The Dance of the Dragons
by Mazarin Stone
Summary: Two incredibly powerful Shen Gong Wu threaten the world and everyone in it. And to stop it, the whole world must depend on...Dojo. Oh dear... [Completed]
1. The Summoning

**Author's Note:**_ Yay! Another story! Unlike_ Xiaolin Lawsuit_, this one will be more serious and far more threatening to the Xiaolin monks. I've introduced some new characters -- and some that were only mentioned by name in the actual series. Don't worry; I'm still going to finish _Xiaolin Lawsuit. _There are only two chapters left, and I'll be uploading them as soon as I'm sure that I've gotten rid of as many spelling and grammatical errors as I can find. But in the meantime...enjoy!_

**Chapter One: The Summoning**

Dojo Kanojo Cho often watched the stars before he went to bed. He was supposed to be able to divine the future, just by looking at the celestial bodies as they performed their endless dance far away in the cosmos. Truthfully, he was never much good at it and really only did it back home in order to keep the clan Elders at yelling at him for being lazy. But nowadays, he was starting to enjoy crawling onto the temple roof and just _watching_.

"Is that Uranus, or am I just making a dumb joke…" Dojo murmured to himself as his eyes began to close.

Unfortunately, his sleep was interrupted by a sharp pain that started at the base of his spine and ran up and down it until he yelped and jumped in shock. It was almost as if his Shen Gong Wu senses were active, but he knew that it was something completely different.

The dragon stretched and yawned and stretched again until finally the pain vanished. _Hopefully that wasn't what I think it was_, Dojo thought to himself as he put his head down and closed his eyes.

* * *

Dojo woke up the next morning with a feeling of apprehension. Something was about to happen soon, and he didn't think that there was anything he could do about it…

"Hello, my friends!" Omi called he strode out of the temple. The other monks were already lounging around in the courtyard. Clay was carving wooden sculptures of the Xiaolin dragons while Raimundo and Kimiko were going head to head on _Goo Zombies: The Return of the Armageddon Part IV_. And Dojo was settling down to stuff his face with junk looted from the Official Raimundo Secret Stash of Snacks that everyone knew about.

"Are you using that hair growth formula I gave you?" Kimiko asked.

Omi's eyes went all the way up to the top of his head. If he squinted _just right_, he could see the beginnings of a solitary strand of hair. "Soon, I shall have a mane as fearsome and impressive as that of a lion!" He remarked.

Raimundo rolled his eyes. "Right," He said sarcastically. "And Wuya's hair will fall out. Keep dreaming, Omi."

"Whoa-a-a-a-a!" Dojo cried, springing upwards in a fit of shivering. The dragon rolled out from the side of the temple, a chocolate bar in his claw and his face covered with crumbs.

"Where…where did you get that food?" Raimundo demanded.

"Not _now_!" Dojo groaned. He flopped down onto his back and rolled his eyeballs forward so that he was staring at the four Xiaolin dragons. "I'm sensing a new Shen Gong Wu!"

* * *

The new Wu turned out to be called the 'Lunarcanum'.

"The Lunarcanum is one of two related Shen Gong Wu." Master Fung explained as the dragons were examining the Ancient Scroll. "On its own, it has the power to manipulate the ebb and flow of the tides. However, when its sister Shen Gong Wu, the Terrarcanum, is found and activated next to it, they can be used to control the entire world. You must find it, Wudai warriors!"

"Now?" Omi asked.

"No, Omi. We have to find it next week." Raimundo said.

Dojo gave the Ancient Scroll a baleful glance before growing to his full size. The Xiaolin dragons clambered aboard, holding onto his body with their small but sometimes _very _sharp hands.

"Bang! Zoom! To the moon!" Dojo wailed as he rushed out of the temple and took off into the sky.

* * *

"Boy, the Lunarcanum sounds like one heck of a Shen Gong Wu to find." Clay remarked as Dojo cruised among the clouds. "You know that rascal Jack Spicer's going to be on it like..."

"Like…big luscious locks of hair on my head?" Omi replied.

Clay arched an eyebrow. "I _was _gonna say, 'like stink on a skunk', but I guess your metaphor is okay too, I guess."

"Dojo, are you okay?" Kimiko asked. She was sitting on the fore of Dojo's neck and could feel the dragon's every tremor.

"Nothing, nothing." Dojo reassured her. "I've just been feeling…a bit jumpy lately."

"Probably from all those snacks you _steal_, you choco-thief." Raimundo muttered.

Dojo began to descend over the Grand Mesa in Colorado. "The Lunarcanum is just down there." He said, ignoring Raimundo's comment. "It's attracted to water, so you might want to look near one of those lakes on the mesa."

The Xiaolin warriors looked down at the Grand Mesa. They could count _at least _a hundred lakes. "Uh…which one?" Kimiko asked.

Dojo closed his eyes, much to the chagrin of the Xiaolin warriors since he was still accelerating down towards the forest. "I'm getting vibes from the lake over _there_." He pointed to a vast lake that extended from the forest to a rather grassy area.

* * *

Raimundo led the Wudai warriors around the perimeter of the lake. Dojo kept his body wrapped around the wind dragon's outstretched arm as he tried to pinpoint the direct location of the Lunarcanum.

"It's over there." Dojo said confidently, pointing to a spot far across the lake. "No, no…it's _this _way! No, _that _way! No, wait, my bad…it's all the way over…_there_!"

The warriors glared at him. "You're pointing _upwards, _Dojo. How can it just be in the sky?" Clay demanded.

Dojo whirled around and slithered up Raimundo's shoulder. He grabbed Clay's head and tilted it upwards, forcing him to notice the glowing blue fist-sized flat disc hovering just a few feet over their heads.

"Huh." Clay said. "Y'know, if it were a snake, it would've bit me!"

"It's not the only thing that _bites_!" cackled a very familiar, very annoying voice.

"Jack Spicer!" announced Omi.

"Y'know, you don't have to say my name every time you see me. _I already know what it is_." Jack said with an affected yawned. The evil, pasty-faced teenager was hovering in the sky by the power of his heli-bot. He hadn't arrived with any of his usual robotic minions.

"Stay away from the Shen Gong Wu." Omi warned. "Its powers are too enormous to belong to the forces of the Heylin!"

Jack nodded. "Thanks for that. I wasn't really going to put much effort into this until you mentioned the enormous power." He pressed a button on his wristwatch and smirked evilly at his opponents. "Lady, gentlemen, and scaly monster--,"

"Hey!" Dojo groaned.

"—I introduce my latest performers…the _Lily-bots_!" Jack bowed gracefully as the monks glanced around in surprise.

"Where _are _they?" Raimundo asked.

Right on cue, the lake began to froth and bubble as about a hundred metal cylinders began to rise out of the water. In the center of each cylinder was a glowing, angry red eye. Wrapped around the cylinder was a web-like fringe of long, sharp metal spikes, a grotesque parody of a lily pad.

"This is gonna sting." Clay said, doffing his cowboy hat solemnly.

Dojo yelped and jumped from Raimundo's shoulder, making his way to a bush to hide. He needn't have worried, however.

"Let's go, guys." Raimundo said as the Xiaolin monks got into their fighting stance. "_Wudai Orion Formation_!"

All four warriors were infused with a burst of their respective _chi _energies. Their bodies began to glow as they slid effortlessly into formation and almost immediately afterwards they were able to call upon entire near reserves of energy.

This was good, since a press of a button from Jack commanded his Lily-bots to launch a flurry of razor-sharp spikes that would have easily pierced the skin of a normal person.

"_Wudai Star – Wind_!" Raimundo shouted, clasping his hands together. The resulting burst of wind was so fierce that the spikes disintegrated before they even got within a few inches of the Xiaolin warriors.

"_Wudai Mars – Fire_!" Kimiko sent a flaming lash from her fingertips, melting another twenty spikes and also cutting a swath through the Lily-bots.

"_Wudai Crater – Earth_!" Clay created an enormous shockwave in the earth that split all the way toward edge of the lake, destroying quite a few robots.

"_Wudai Neptune – Water_!" Omi's attack sent small typhoons spinning out into the water. The Lily-bots caught in the vortex howled as they were sucked out of the water and smashed to pieces by the force of the stormy water.

The battle was not over yet. The Lily-boys began surging out of the water. It turned out that their cylindrical heads were attached to squat, submarine-shaped bodies that were covered with electrically-charged spikes. They waddled menacingly towards the Xiaolin warriors; ready to launch an attack even more fearsome than the one they had launched just a couple of minute sago.

"This is going to take a while." Raimundo said. "Dojo, would you mind grabbing the Wu so we can get out of here?"

Dojo gave a soft moan as he crawled out of the foliage. "I don't feel well, but I'll try."

With an awesome effort, he grew back to his gargantuan form and went for the amazing floating disc.

"Not a chance, gecko!" Jack sneered as he reached for the Shen Gong Wu as well. The boy genius was flying closer to it, but Dojo's size helped even out that advantage. The dragon just hoped that he didn't end up in a Xiaolin Showdown.

"_OW_!" Dojo yowled as he was forcibly shrunk down to his normal size. He was having another spasm, as well as an awful headache that was so painful that he couldn't even see straight. Now, he recognized what was happening to him. He was being summoned…

"Wow!" Jack said as he grabbed the Lunarcanum. "I can't believe my luck! The Xiaolin losers sent their pet gecko after me…and he lost! I _love _it! _Love! It_!" He gave a mad, howling cackle as he placed the Lunarcanum in his heli-bot compartment and flew away, completely excited at having finally won his first Wu in weeks.

As soon as Jack was gone, the Lily-bots retreated back into the safety of the lake and sank beneath its surface so that they could dig their way back to the ocean where their master kept them until he needed them for a mission like this. The warriors breathed a sigh of relief as they looked down at their tattered robes. At least they had won.

"So, did you get the Lunarcanum?" Raimundo asked as he picked a splinter out from underneath his eye.

Dojo hung his head. "I…uh…I gotta go." He said. He groaned again and grew to his normal size. Before the Xiaolin warriors could react, he flew off, in the opposite direction of the Xiaolin temple. Even when they called after him, he didn't seem to hear them. The last they saw of Dojo, the dragon was heading over the horizon.

* * *


	2. The Reunion

**Author's Note: **_Here's Chapter Two, in which Chase Young appears, the monks split up into couples, and Dojo goes home. HOPE THAT DIDN'T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR YOU. :D_**  
**

****

**Chapter Two: The Reunion**

While the Xiaolin warriors took the long way back to the temple on foot, Jack Spicer was flying towards the monstrous lair of Chase Young. The immortal warlord was sitting with his back turned to Jack as the evil boy genius crawled into his presence.

"Er…Chase...Young…_sir_…" Jack stammered. "…how's it hanging?"

"Did you retrieve what I wanted?" Chase said evenly.

"Yeah…_yes_!" Jack held up the Lunarcanum triumphantly. "It's all yours, Chase Young, sir!" He skittered forward, placed the glass sphere at the foot of his throne and ran back a few paces in order to get a head start in case he had messed up somewhere along the line and incurred Chase's wrath.

Chase snapped his fingers, and one of his jungle cats stepped forward and picked up the disk. The cat carried it over to him and dropped it in his hands. "You have done well, Jack Spicer." He said after examining it for a few agonizingly slow. "This Shen Gong Wu is one-half of the key to my latest plan."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know you have a plan!"

"I _always _have a plan." Chase said slowly. "In case you didn't realize, the Lunarcanum is of no assistance to the Heylin side. But when combined with its sister, the Terrarcanum, during the Dragoncircle Ceremonies, it will make us – well, _me_ – invincible."

"Dragoncircle Ceremonies?" Jack murmured.

"You don't need to know about that right now." Chase Young said. "All you need to know is that you are going on an evil field trip to…the Mountains of Everywhere." He paused. "That's south of the Jungles of Here nor There and west of the Valley of Somewhere. Or is that, _west _of the Jungles of Somewhere and _north _of the Hillocks of Yonder Glen. No matter; my Heylin Eyeball will guide you."

Jack nodded and extended the whirling blades on his heli-bot. He was doing a _lot _of legwork on this plot, and Chase wasn't doing anything other than sitting around and giving him orders. It was as bad as the time when he was working with Wuya. Well, not _quite _as bad, but really, really close.

* * *

Master Fung was upset when he heard the news about Dojo's flight. "Is this true?" He asked. "Well, this is a very serious situation. Dojo has only run off once before, and in that instance he had been betrayed to Chase Young." 

"Oh, I remember that." Raimundo said. "Do you think something like this is happening right now?"

The old monk shook his head. "I do not know. I believe that he is not in any immediate danger, but I shall have to do research in order to be certain." He turned away from the Xiaolin dragons and began looking through the dusty scrolls. "In the meantime, I would advise you to focus your energies on preparing yourselves to retrieve the Terrarcanum. It will reveal itself within a short time of its sister, and it is imperative that the Shen Gong Wu not fall into evil hands."

The warriors hung their heads. They had been hoping that he wouldn't notice that they hadn't returned with the Wu.

"I think we should raid Spicer and get back our Wu." Raimundo said.

"You _always _think that." Kimiko replied.

"Besides," Clay said. "If we go after Jack, then who's going to go after Dojo?"

"I recommend--," Omi began.

"I recommend that we split up!" Raimundo interrupted loudly. "Kimiko and I will go to Jack Spicer's mansion--,"

Kimiko raised a hand. "No, that's not going to work. I put a GPS tracker in Dojo's mouth after he was kidnapped again a while ago. I have to be on the couple—er, _team_ that goes after Dojo."

Raimundo rolled his eyes. "Fine. Kimiko, you and Clay go after Dojo. Omi and I will go to Jack Spicer's mansion. Everyone agreed?"

No one had any objections, so the four monks made their way to the vault next to the temple. Raimundo pulled it open and divvyed up the Shen Gong Wu within. Kimiko and Clay received the Star Hanabi and the Third Arm Sash, while Omi and Raimundo got the Orb of Tornami and the Eye of Dashi. The first team would go after Dojo in the Silver Manta Ray and the second team would head to Jack Spicer's manor through the underground 'entrance' via the Tunnel Armadillo.

"Man," Raimundo said as the Silver Manta Ray rocketed away from the temple. "I am _such _an awesome Shoku warrior."

"As you say, Peerless Leader." Omi said, in a way that was bordering on sarcasm. Raimundo glanced at him, his eyes wide, before shrugging and turning to activate the Tunnel Armadillo.

* * *

Even though the Xiaolin warriors had only just left the temple in opposite directions in search of their two goals, Dojo Kanojo Cho was arriving at his own destination. He was at ring of volcanoes and ashen ground that floated somewhere in the distant Pacific. It was untouched by human feet, and seemed to be a deserted strip of land. But as he landed and shrunk to his original form, he knew what this place was – _home_. 

"Welcome back," He said to himself, because no one would say to him. The dragon slithered in a crevice between two volcanoes and entered the Ring of Fire.

He could see dragons everywhere. Red dragons, blue dragons, wyverns and worms...all draped over every inch of warm space as they reclined in their familiar positions.

"Hello, everyone!" Dojo called.

The other dragons immediately turned and fixed their eerie yellow eyes on him.

"Who is that?" One of them asked.

"It's me! Dojo Kanojo Cho!" Dojo said, raising his eyebrows.

"_Dojo…_" Some of them murmured.

"My boy!" boomed a deep and terrible voice. The other dragons turned to see an enormous three-headed black dragon with glittering scales and bright red eyes rising from a canyon just behind them.

"Uncle Tiamat!" Dojo cried, feeling like a young dragon once again. He ran forward, passing many other bewildered dragons as he flew into his uncle's gigantic arms.

After they hugged, the elder dragon looked down at Dojo and said, "Did you receive the Summoning as well?"

Dojo shuddered. "Is that what it was? It was so painful!"

"Well, yes." Uncle Tiamat said, almost apologetically. "The Summoning was put out by the Elders in order to call all of the dragons here for the Dragoncircle Ceremonies." He yawned and stared around at the other dragons. They had gone back to their personal conversations and were paying them no mind. "But enough about that, for now. You ought to go and see your parents."

Dojo's parents lived in the third layer of the main crust of the Ring of Fire Island. Both Tiamat and Dojo had to shrink themselves down in order to fit down the tiny crevices that led into the crust, and even then, they had to squeeze a bit to make it down to their house.

"Mama, I'm back!" Dojo called.

His mother, a squat green dragon named Koryu Kanojo Cho, rushed out to give him a hug that even more bone-crushing than the one from Uncle Tiamat. "My baby boy's back!" She said as Dojo's face gradually went from green to purple to black.

"You might want to let him go." Tiamat said.

Koryu reluctantly let go and took a step back and Dojo flopped onto the ground, sucking in air like someone who had just been strangled.

"Are you married yet?" Mama demanded immediately after Dojo's face went back to its normal color.

"No, mama. I'm a--," Dojo began.

"You really ought to consider finding a nice girl dragon and settling down." Mama said, somewhat reproachfully. "You're my only son, you know, and if you don't lay any eggs then I'll never have any grandchildren!"

Dojo blushed. "Now I remember why I usually skip these reunions," He mumbled, but inaudibly so that his mother would get mad at him.

"What are you up to?" Uncle Tiamat asked.

The dragon puffed out his chest. "I'm a temple guardian!" Dojo said.

"Wait till I tell all the girls!" Mama said loudly. "My son, the temple guardian…" She vanished into a crevice leading to one of the other levels in the crust. Dojo gave Tiamat a strange glance before diving down after his mother. The black dragon shook his head as his nephew vanished, then curled up to go to sleep.

"Ma, come on!" Dojo groaned as he squeezed his way through the narrow interconnecting maze of shafts that led to the underground homes of the dragon clans.

"My son!" Mama repeated as she popped out of a crevice and landed with a soft thud in the middle of a cool, flat partition. Dojo remembered that this was where the female dragons hung out. "Did you know," Mama gushed. "That my son…is a temple guardian! For the Heylin--,"

"_Xiaolin_," Dojo muttered, turning red.

"_Shao_lin temple?" Mama said. "And get this – he's _single_."

The other dragons just looked at them, and Dojo wished that he had brought along the Shroud of Shadows.

"What's wrong with your scales?" A purple dragon asked. "They're so pale and dusty."

"Being a temple guardian is a lame job anyway." The orange dragon said. "My brother Tenebrae works at the center of the Earth, which is much cooler."

The other dragons were on the verge of coming up with their own criticism when a howling sound began ricocheting through the cavern. The dragons perked their ears before whispering amongst themselves.

"The Elders are calling!" The purple dragon whispered. She vanished into a crevice, heading to the deepest layer on the Ring of Fire Island. The other dragons followed suit, and after gulping nervously, Dojo went as well.

* * *


	3. The Attack

**A/N:**_Thanks, to the two people who reviewed! I was trying to go for an episode feel. It was really surprising to find out that so there were only like three fics that had been done for Dojo. I thought that he was at least getting about half the coverage that Raimundo, Kimiko, and Jack Spicer get. I decided to write this to flesh him out a little bit more. Tell me what you think of it as I make more chapters.  
_

**Chapter Three: The Attack**

Raimundo and Omi were using the Tunnel Armadillo to dig their way into the earth so that they could break into Jack Spicer's lair from underneath. "This is going to be easy!" Raimundo said over the constant rumbling of the drills.

Omi glanced at one of the many flashing panels on the dashboard. "We must be very careful. Jack Spicer's new robots are extremely powerful, and we would do well to avoid over-confidence."

The dragon of the wind nodded, his confidence deflated somewhat. "I guess. I can still feel all of those pinpricks from this morning. I hope Spicer doesn't have any guarding his lair."

They kept going until they reached the underside of Spicer's manor. "We're going in!" Raimundo said, and he turned the Tunnel Armadillo upward.

Inside stately Spicer manor, Jack was busy preparing for his expedition. Chase Young had given him a jewel-encrusted brooch in the shape of an eyeball; as long as he wore it, he would know exactly where he was going. But the Heylin warlord had warned him that it was dangerous, and he would do well to bring along some back up.

"Okay, guys." Jack said as he tightened the last screw on his new and improved Robo-Jack. "Atten-SHUN!"

Robo-Jack clambered to his feet and gave Jack Spicer a snappy military salute.

"Robo-Jack 3.0, online!" The android said.

"Let's move--," Jack began, but he was cut off by a rumbling sound from behind him. Both Jacks whirled around to see the Tunnel Armadillo…tunneling through the floor.

"Jack Spicer! And _another _Jack Spicer!" Omi announced on cue as he and Raimundo jumped out of the vehicle and landed just a few feet away from the Jacks. "Return to us the Lunarcanum or suffer a humiliating defeat!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. As if I'm just going to give it to _you_. Robo-Jack…_attack_!"

Robo-Jack lunged forward, his fists raised and his telescopic eyes focused intently on the two Xiaolin warriors.

"Orb of Torn--," Omi began, holding up his signature Shen Gong Wu.

"Denied!" Robo-Jack retorted. He slapped the Shen Gong Wu out of Omi's hand, sending the orb rolling away into one of the many piles of mechanical junk littering the basement. While Omi was staring after it, he grabbed the bald monk by his head and tossed him into a swivel chair, wrapping him around it with rubber wires with great speed.

Raimundo decided to take a more proactive approach by launching himself towards his opponent. The dragon of the wind and the evil machine slammed into one another, and Raimundo came off worse by far. The robot went spinning to the ground while Raimundo stumbled backwards a few feet and collapsed. His Wu went flying out of his pocket and into the waiting hands of Jack Spicer.

"Thanks!" Jack Spicer – the real one – said. "You know, this is almost too easy. Almost like taking candy from a baby. Or Brussels sprouts from a senior citizen."

"Nice one, Jack!" Robo-Jack chimed in.

"Oh for the love of--," The wind dragon muttered. "Wudai Star – _Wind_!"

The two Jack Spicers casually stepped out of the way, causing the gale-force blast to smash some of the wall ornaments that the evil boy genius had collected.

Jack shook his head, struggling to contain his laughter. "Nice one, Rai." He pressed a button that activated his heli-bot. "Well, I gotta go. Maybe when I get back I'll have time to slap you silly some more. Bye!"

Jack and his android duplicate howled to themselves and went zooming out of the lair.

* * *

Master Fung could sense the foreboding powers that were rapidly closing in around the world. He had hoped that Dojo's disappearance and the loss of the Lunarcanum were two separate incidents, but the more he pondered over the ancient scrolls the more he believed that they were inextricably intertwined and part of some grander scheme. 

Dashi was not a very fastidious note taker. But he had written pages upon pages about the Lunarcanum and the Terrarcanum and terrifying forces that they commanded. According to the tablets, Dashi had locked the Shen Gong Wu away immediately after they had been created. They would have been invaluable in vanquishing Wuya and her forces, but Dashi had decided that they were not worth the risk.

**_I sealed them away in an enchanted iron strongbox that would prevent them from ever revealing themselves. _**The scroll said. **_To keep anyone from finding them, I tossed the box to the bottom of the ocean and set an old, terrible guardian to defend them. I also laid a curse on them to dampen any power that laid its hands on them without my permission. The Terrarcanum would stay where it was fastened, but I feared that the Lunarcanum would continually try and escape. It had the power to fly – a feature that I had designed to prevent Wuya from disarming me if I were to use them – and could easily draw on the power of the ocean to escape. But it never did, and I conclude this essay by saying that my most terrible Shen Gong Wu will never be seen by mortal eyes again._**

That was the last thing Dashi wrote on the subject. The rest of the scrolls were just his random musings and doodles – a complete waste of paper.

"Grandmaster Dashi tried to keep the dangerous Shen Gong Wu a secret." Master Fung whispered. "But he failed…I _must _warn the Wudai warriors. They are in grave danger."

"No need," hissed a hateful voice. Master Fung turned to see the shadow of one of Chase Young's warriors in its human form standing at the entrance to the library. Even though he was standing across the room, he could see the face of Chase Young in the possessed warrior's wide, unblinking eyes.

In the hallway, Master Fung could hear sounds of combat that, while the doors were locked, he could not have picked up on before.

"Leave this place at once!" Master Fung said firmly.

"Good…bye." The warrior held up both hands and Master Fung heard Chase's voice chanting eerily. Purple tendrils streaked from either side of his field of vision and wrapped themselves around his body. The scene broke up into a thousand colored motes and then the elderly monk knew no more.

* * *

_**A/N, Part Two**: Yeah, this chapter was mostly framing. I tried to make it a little exciting in Jack Spicer's lair and when M.F. gets attacked. It's going to pick up a little bit more on the next chapter, that has a lot more Dojo than this one which isn't saying a lot, considering this one has no Dojo at all:D_

_**A/N Part Three**: I used a bold text for Dashi's writing. Some feedback on whether that was a good idea or not would be appreciated it was readable on my Word processor, but that uses Arial instead Times New Roman so I'm not sure if it's readable to you guys or not. _


	4. The Enemy

**Chapter Four: The Enemy**

All the dragons on the Circle of Fire had slithered from their subterranean home and were gathering around the Green Rock on the center of the island. That was where the Dragon Elders, the oldest and wisest of them, gathered to hold their meetings.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dojo said as he gathered around the Rock with the rest of his kind. "What's so important that they _had _to call us all here?"

Uncle Tiamat shrugged as he pulled out a bone in his throat that was growing wrong. "I don't know, but we ought to listen anyway."

Dojo fell silent. He was starting to almost feel resentful. He had never met the elders before, and his only knowledge of the Circle of Fire came from the first few hundred years of his life. He was only a _baby _back then. It wasn't as if he could remember too much of what had happened before he had left this island and gone over to the Xiaolin temple, where there was this _adorable _little yellow-skinned kid with crazy ideas about making magical power objects or something…

"Welcome, brethren!" said a deep, melodious voice.

The dragons, who were chattering to themselves, turned to face the Green Rock. On top of the stone were two elderly lizards – each about twice as large as Dojo. They both had a rainbow plume on their heads and were staring balefully at the swarm of multi-colored lizards that they ruled over from time to time.

"How's it going?" Dojo called, causing every eyeball on the island to rotate towards him reproachfully.

The Elder dragons pretended as if they hadn't heard him, and continued: "We have called you here today, to the ancestral home of our species, for one of our oldest and greatest of traditions – the Dragoncircle Ceremonies!"

"The what now?" Dojo asked.

"The Dragoncircle ceremonies are held every 2000 years," The Elder continued as his acquaintance nodded vigorously. "It consists of food, games, food, food, food, and food."

Dojo licked his lips. "Now _that's _my kind of ritual!" He called, earning a chuckle from the crowd and a poisonous glare from the Elders.

"_But," _The Elder added coldly. "We cannot hold it this year, because of a very great power that currently threatens our health, safety, and our entire existence!"

The Elder made a pass in the air with his hand, conjuring an illusion of a man with a long, pale face, piercing green eyes, and a mane of thick black hair. It did not take even a second glance for most of the dragons in the audience to shriek. A few mothers even shielded the eyes of their children before cringing away from the vanishing image themselves.

"_Chase Young_!" Dojo gasped.

"Don't say that name here!" hissed Uncle Tiamat. "Do you have any idea how many people The Enemy has eaten?"

Dojo quivered. He remembered his own close call with Ch—_The Enemy_. He had been turned over to him by Master Monk Guan and spent a very uncomfortable stay with him. If it hadn't been for his friends – and Guan – he would have been food.

"Every year," The Elder rumbled. "The Enemy invades our islands with his army--," An illusion appeared depicting a caricature of Chase Young leading a troop of his feline warriors into combat against a number of full-sized dragons. "—and kidnaps several of our own--," The illusion changed to reveal the caricature holding two bleary-eyed old wyverns in both hands and licking his lips comically. "—and makes them into _soup_!" The illusion changed for the final time, revealing only an upside down bowl with a child's drawing of a dead dragon – complete with Xs for eyes.

"And when we hide," The silent Elder piped up. "He finds us and takes even more of our own!"

"_Heylin Eyeball_." Dojo muttered.

"Now, we have to take the fight to him!" The first Elder said.

"Exactly!" Uncle Tiamat called, and the other dragons began murmuring their assent.

The Elder took a deep breath. "This is why we will be choosing two brave heroes to send to face The Enemy in mortal combat!"

_Mortal combat? With Chase Young? _Dojo whistled. _Boy, I don't envy the poor suckers who get stuck with THAT suicide assignment_.

"When will we decide?" asked a worm.

"Now!" The Elder replied. His companion pulled out a hat and dropped it onto the Green Rock. The dragons could see that the hat was filled with tiny slips of paper. "In three seconds, we shall select the two mighty ones who will vanquish the heroes!" The Elder said. "Theme music, _por favor_!"

The other dragon cupped a fist to his mouth and began chanting, "_Boom-shaka-laka-laka-boom! Boom-shaka-laka-laka-boom!" _

The Elder pulled out a piece of paper and held it up above his head. "Our first champion will be…_The Loch Ness Monster_!"

There was a loud howl from the Scottish Loch clan congregated the right of the Cho-Cho clan. Dojo's cousin Nessie was hoisted up into the air where she stared out regretfully. Perhaps she was having second thoughts about showing up so soon…

"And our second champion…" The Elder began. "Will be…_Tiamat Kanojo Cho, _of the Northern Cho-Cho clan!"

Tiamat rumbled his assent as the old, mighty-looking black dragon flexed his muscles. He was obviously an excellent choice. If any team was going to be able to vanquish a blackguard who had devoured so many dragons, it would be one that combined Nessie's illusion magic and Tiamat's raw draconic strength. At least, that's what Dojo thought…

"Let's go take him down now!" A dragon called.

"Patience!" The Elder said. "He cannot be defeated without the use of…_this_!" As he spoke, his partner held up a spun-glass green disc that was about the same size of his hand.

_That looks vaguely familiar_, Dojo thought. Then it hit him.

"The Terrarcanum!" He yelled.

"What?" Tiamat demanded.

"That thing! The Elder's disc!" Dojo said, waving his arms spastically. "It's a Shen Gong Wu--,"

"A what?" Mama asked, sidling over.

"A mystical power artifact!" Dojo explained. "That disc is called the Terrarcanum. It's a Shen Gong Wu that…well, I can't remember what it does, but it's _really dangerous_! You have to get that out of here before it _destroys us all_! AAAAAAAARRRGH!"

Dojo's manic screaming was cut off with a sharp slap from his mother.

"Thank you." He said, gasping for air.

"What do you mean?" The Elder said harshly. "This thing fell from the heavens. It is obviously a relic of the Dead Dragon from Beyond the Red Planet, which has been sent to serve as a shield for whatever brave warrior goes up against The Enemy. And so it shall be; when the stars are right, we shall send forth our two noble champions with this relic to attack The Enemy before he attacks us."

"Yeah." Tiamat said. "You're just being paranoid, little nephew." He affectionately squashed the little dragon's head down into the dirt and gave him a noogie with his diamond knuckles.

"This meeting is adjourned!" The Elder boomed.

The dragons began to leave, and Dojo's panic began to escalate towards its fever-pitch once again. _What was he going to do_?

* * *

"I think we're getting close." Kimiko said as she examined the instruments aboard the Silver Manta Ray. "According to the locator, Dojo is something around a hundred feet down."

"_Straight _down?" Clay asked.

"That's what 'down' usually means." Kimiko replied.

Clay nodded and began heading down. The Silver Manta Ray plummeted for a few feet before pulling into a mad spiral through the clouds towards the ocean below. It seemed to the two passengers that the volcano-laden island was rushing up to meet them. But their thoughts were entirely focused on the desperate hope that their friend Dojo was safe on the beastly-looking rock.

'_Proximity Alert! Proximity Alert_!' Chirped a mechanical whining voice.

Clay blinked when he heard that. "What in tarnation does it mean by proximity--,"

His question was answered as an enormous fireball, easily twice the size of the Silver Manta Ray, erupted out of what appeared to be thin air. Clay jerked the wheel to the left and they narrowly skirted around the flames. But more were coming, each one bursting out of the air at the approaching aircraft. The dragon of the earth went left, and then right, then pulled up, and then zoomed down. The fireballs arced across the sky and redirected themselves toward them.

This time, Kimiko took the initiative. "_Wudai Fire Shield_!" She cried, and with a single gesture, she was able to conjure up a wall of pulsating fire chi that reflected the fireballs away. They spun away from the aircraft and exploded, creating a gigantic shockwave that rocked the two warriors even in the safety of their ship.

"Nice job, Clay!" Kimiko said.

Clay took a deep breath. "Thank you kindly. You weren't half bad yourself, Kimiko." He said. The Silver Manta Ray was pulling away from the island. "I sure hope that Dojo ain't on that volcanic island. He definitely wouldn't have been able to dodge them fireballs."

Kimiko nodded. "If I ever catch the guy who decided to make an island that tries to kill anyone who goes near it, I'll sue him _so hard--_,"

"Uh, Kimiko?" Clay said.

"—_he won't even be able to—_what?" Kimiko looked straight ahead. On the hood of the Silver Manta Ray was a great green worm with big, glowing round eyes. He looked almost like Dojo, except that he was so obviously different that the idea that it might be the same type of creature did not even cross the two Xiaolin warriors' minds.

"_Hiss_," The worm said. "_Hiss. _You are now the prisoner of – _hiss _– the Western Draco clan. _Hiss_!"

"Well, this is turning out to be an easy mission." Kimiko grumbled as the worm began sucking on the hood of the Manta Ray. Clay sighed as he brought the ship down towards the island.

* * *

Chase Young's warriors had just finished securing the Xiaolin temple. The monks had fought valiantly, but there were only a few of them against a horde of warriors, from various time periods wielding all of the strange arcane weapons that their leader provided.

A member of the Praetorian Guard that Chase had captured back in the days of ancient Rome had been responsible for breaking into the vault. The door was hard to open, but he had gotten the ingenious idea of using dynamite to blow it to the pieces.

"Which Shen Gong Wu do we need?" One of the underlings asked.

The chief warrior opened a drawer and quickly snatched the Wu inside. Then he signaled for his underlings to follow him out of the vault.

Most of Chase's warriors returned to the temple to make sure that any of the monks did not escape. They had left them tied up inside the meditation hall and were using Chase Young's 'sleep power' spell to keep them dazed and docile. The chief warrior was the only one outside, and he was standing atop the highest point on the Xiaolin temple grounds in order to face the setting sun.

"_Lunar Locket_!" He rumbled, waving the Shen Gong Wu about in the air. The sun seemed to flare as it sank beneath the horizon line, only to be replaced by a full view of the ever-present moon and the thousands of stars twinkling far away in the darkest reaches of space. "_Lunar Locket_!" The Roman said again. This time, he was using the locket's powers to manipulate the stars themselves. Chase had given him a drawing to memorize and he had to duplicate that in the sky.

"…just…about…" He muttered, very gently coaxing the celestial bodies into the right positions. "_Done_!" He lowered the Lunar Locket and admired his handiwork.

"Excellent job." Whispered the hoarse voice of Chase Young. "Hold the Xiaolin temple for now. Once my plan comes to fruition, I want the pleasure of demolishing it myself."


	5. The Imposter

**Author's Note:**_Thanks for more reviews, guys. With regards to the Tiamat Bone conspiracy...in this story, dragons can cough up their own skeletons from time to time. Most of them just dispose of it in the--well, I can't tell you that right now, because it's a plot point, but some of them just dispose of it while they regrow some more bones and others do strange things with them like make them into decorations and New Year's presents. Some of them even eat them. If you think that's weird, Google "placentophagy". It's a similar concept. _

_Anyway, thanks again for reviewing guys! I'm glad you enjoyed my story.  
_

**Chapter Five: The Imposter**

Jack Spicer and his robotic doppelganger arrived on the Mountains of Everywhere safe and sound. For all Chase Young's talk of danger, Jack rather thought that the mountains were peaceful, especially in the twilight hour.

Robo-Jack found a cave for them to wait until they got the signal from Chase Young. He couldn't remember if Chase had mentioned _when _he would be in contact, but it had to be soon, right? He wasn't sure how much longer he could find amusement in using the Orb of Tornami's water jet to carve his name into the mouth of the cave.

The fireflies had come out; officially signaling that Chase Young was late.

"I want to go home." Robo-Jack whined. "My gears are getting rusty and I can feel my circuitry bloating."

Jack rolled his eyes. "You gotta have some discipline, man!" He said. "Chase Young let me be his apprentice because I was the only one--,"

"The only one willing to put up with his unbearable mixture of indifferent cruelty and casual rudeness?" Robo-Jack put forward sarcastically.

"_No_! He chose me because I had a certain aura of--,"

"Hard-headedness and stupidity?"

"_No _again! He said that I had a certain aura of _je ne sais quoi_. That's Spanish for 'never giving up…ness'." Jack explained. "Look, if you're going to make sarcastic comments then I might as well just take out that Obedience Chip that Chase gave me to use on you."

"No, no." Robo-Jack said. "You don't have to do that. I promise to obey your every command…_master_."

Jack crossed his arms and turned away from the android. "Well, that's more like it." He glanced at his watch.

_Where could he be?_

* * *

Tiamat and Nessie had been taken aside by the Elders while the other dragons gradually hunkered down for their 12-hour siestas. Dojo was tempted to sleep along with him. He missed being able to sleep for half a day; back at the temple, sleep was relegated to the precious few seconds that elapsed between the all-consuming tasks of training, chores, scroll-guarding, personal hygiene, looking after Master Fung, and searching out Shen Gong Wu. 

But he couldn't really do that. He had to figure out a way to get the Terrarcanum before it revealed itself and got them all eaten by Chase Young. He had to get it away from the Elders, and the best way he could do that was to sneak along with Tiamat and Nessie when they were meeting with the Elders.

Dojo solved this problem the way he solved all of his problems – by picking his nose. "It's never failed me before!" He said as he rooted around in there. His nostrils, which were scorched free of the usual stuff that occupied noses due to his fire-breathing and smoke-snorting, ached as he reached deep inside, almost to where his brain was. "_Gotcha_!" He said. His talon closed around something and he found himself doubled over next to a big sleeping pink worm, coughing loudly and feebly.

He ended up coughing up something that would really save his bacon right about then. "Behold!" He cried, to no one in particular. He picked up the small Shen Gong Wu and waved it around triumphantly. "_Manchurian Musca_!"

A small, buzzing fly. The perfect way to spy on a bunch of dragons while plotting to steal the Terrarcanum.

The four dragons – the champions and the Elders – congregated behind the Green Rock. Dojo zoomed around the tip of the rock, trying to quell his overwhelming craving for sugar.

"Are the stars right?" Nessie was saying. She was oddly enormous from this perspective, all stretchy and bulgy and covered with dull gray scales.

"Of course." The talkative Elder said. "We have examined the evening sky and see that the stars signal that The Enemy approaches. We sent our best worm spies out and they said that they could see someone on the Mountain of Everywhere. It is most likely him, with an advance agent to help him catch more of our brethren to devour in his cannibal rituals."

The normally-silent Elder chimed in with, "We must act quickly. We have very little time before the time of the Dragoncircle is over. If he is not defeated now, then we may never have another chance."

Tiamat and Nessie nodded. The silent Elder fixed a pendant around Nessie's neck to increase her magic while the talkative one gave Tiamat an iron shield and dagger to wield. The iron shield had the Terrarcanum with in it, clearly visible even as Tiamat slipped it over his left forearm. "Fly quickly and strike true, noble champions!" The talking Elder said.

"We shall return…_victorious_!" Tiamat responded.

Tiamat and Nessie changed into the giant forms and took flight. Dojo watched them go, and then looked up at the heavens. The Elders had _said _that the stars were accurate, but they didn't look _right _to them. Something was off; he couldn't explain what was wrong or even how he knew that, but he could feel it just the same. "Oh, boy." He thought to himself. "Man, I wish I wasn't so responsible!"

And with that, the fly flew away after the two champions.

* * *

Robo-Jack was using its telescopic vision to scan the darkening sky for any sign of their accomplice. 

"D'you see anything?" Jack asked for the hundredth time.

"No…" Robo-Jack began. Then his paused. "Wait, wait, whoa! I see something, but it's definitely not your favorite soup addict." He detached his eyes and handed them to Jack, who looked at them uncertainly before holding them up in front of his own.

"It's a huge black dragon," Jack Spicer said. "And a smaller gray one. They both look kind of like that gecko dude that follows the geek warriors around."

"Is it me…" Robo-Jack asked, craning his eyeless head towards his creator. "…or are the fireballs they're breathing getting a _little _too close--,"

He was cut off as a blast of fire rocketed out of the huge black dragon's mouth. The fireball knocked the robot backwards; his internal mechanisms were scorched and he started acting as if he had just gotten an extra-strength whiff of the Woozy Shooter.

"Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger…_AAAAAAAH_!" The android howled with maniacal laughter as he executed a graceful swan dive off of the cave's mouth. Jack saw months of electronics store robberies and years of work on a model vanish into the Chasm of Everywhere.

But his attention was quickly stolen by a sharp pain that was shooting through his chest as the dragons approached. The brooch that Chase had given him was now on fire, and seemed to be determined to actually _sink _into his skin.

"Oh brother!" Jack said as he tossed it aside.

_"I have given you a grand opportunity_." Chase Young echoed. _"To wear my form_!"

And it was true; by some demented magic, Chase had changed Jack's outward appearance into an exact duplicate of his own, down to the last details of his armor. Inside, he was still the same red-headed little boy, but he had the feeling that a red-headed little boy wasn't what the two dragons were seeing as they bore down him with their great winged, flapping bodies.

"The Enemy!" The black dragon roared, brandishing its dagger menacingly.

"Get away from me!" Jack said, squeezing his eyes shut and clawing at the air.

"This is a very cunning battle strategy." Nessie remarked. "But it won't work. We know all your Heylin tricks, Evil One!"

Nessie punctuated the last two words with a loud belch of fire. This fire jumped into the ground at the mouth of the cave, mixing in with it to create a small golem of made of baked mud.

Jack looked at the creature. "That's it?" He demanded, his voice starting to sound like Chase's as well. "I guess you won't mind to see my newest co-stars." He snapped his fingers. "_Lily-bots_ – attack!"

The dragons paused, looking around for the Lily-bots.

Jack's eyes widened as he looked at the label he had pulled off of one of the Lily-bots. "'Only use in or near water'…" He said, a frown taking over his face. "_Peachy_."

"Shall we get him _now_?" Nessie asked.

"But of course." Tiamat said, showing his fangs.

Jack gulped. Suddenly, baby-sitting his cousin Megan didn't seem like such a chore!

* * *


	6. The Siege

**Chapter Six: The Siege **

"I can't believe we have to _walk _home, again!" Raimundo complained as he and Omi made the long walk from Jack Spicer's manor to the Xiaolin temple. The Tunnel Armadillo had been stripped be some of Jack's Worm-bots and they now had three Wu to explain to Master Fung about when they got back to the temple.

Omi came to a sudden stop, his hand extended into Raimundo's face. "Something is very wrong." The Xiaolin warrior said as they came to the ridge that overlooked the Xiaolin temple.

Raimundo could sense it too. There was something wrong with the air, as if evil magic was taking place. But Wuya was the main evil magician on the Heylin side. She hadn't been up and about since Chase Young had locked her away in a sepulcher next to his lair. She definitely couldn't be affecting the aura around the temple.

"I think we should go carefully." Raimundo said after a while. He was trying to show true leadership right now by swallowing his own fear and confusion and coming up with a plan of action.

The two warriors made their way carefully towards the temple. They were pressed against the wall when they heard footsteps coming around the side of the building. Raimundo appeared on the roof while Omi compressed himself into a flower pot.

Rai groaned as he saw who was coming. _Three Mongols and an ancient Roman hoplite. DEFINITELY from Chase Young's crew_.

Omi waited until the men had turned the corner before slipping fluidly out of the flower plot and trotting ninja-style along the side of the wall. Raimundo quickly joined him, and the two warriors made their way around to the front side of the temple.

There were only two warriors guarding it – tall muscular bodybuilders with mean looks on their faces. They had apparently been raiding the vault since one of them was wearing the Fist of Tebigong.

"I get the big one." Raimundo whispered. "You take the _other _big one."

Omi nodded, and the two monks jumped back onto the roof and swiftly traversed its length so that they were standing directly above the warriors.

"_Drop-bear attack!" _Omi cried as he landed on the first warrior's head.

Raimundo opted for a swifter approach, dropping down on his own opponent and knocking him unconscious with a few swift blows to the throat. Omi's opponent staggered around for a few minutes before ending up using the Fist of Tebigong on his own head a few seconds before Omi had jumped off.

After tying up the guards with a vine, the warriors moved into the temple, taking care to avoid the one or two evil minions that still wandered around inside.

They found the monks bound and gagged in the meditation hall. Most of them were unconscious, but Master Fung had managed to lean against the wall and stare blearily at the door despite the effects of Chase Young's spells.

"Master Fung, what happened?" Raimundo blurted out as they rushed over to him.

Master Fung gave a loud, rasping cough. "…Chase Young." He said as his head lolled dangerously.

"Chase Young? _Here_?" Omi asked.

"No…" Master Fung groaned. "…quickly, you must stop him. I know that he intends to seize the Terrarcanum and use it during the Dragoncircle Ceremonies. It is on…the Circle of Fire. The maps…" The old monk pointed a finger at a stack of maps lying next to a sleeping elder.

The two warriors found the map that Master Fung was talking about. It was a map of the Pacific, with a bunch of islands on it. The largest island was labeled 'Circle of Fire' in Dashi's big, dark handwriting. Next to it was a fairly poor illustration of Dojo done in charcoal.

"Maybe this is where Dojo went." Raimundo said. "It looks pretty dangerous. Let's see what the other scrolls have to say about it."

The other scrolls revealed that the Circle of Fire was the ancestral home of Dojo's species. Most dragons left the island after a few hundred years of life but every once in a while—

"Probably 1500 years." Rai muttered.

--once in a while, the dragon Elders would put out a Summoning that would call them all back to the island. Both monks immediately realized that that was what had overtaken Dojo back on the Grand Mesa.

"We have to go there." Omi said. "It might be our only way to find Dojo and stop whatever Chase Young is planning."

The warriors stepped out into the hallway. The way to the Shen Gong Wu vault was to the left…and was currently being blocked by a horde of samurais.

"Oh, for crying out loud! _How _often are we going to get jumped today?" Raimundo complained as the samurais drew their swords. Even as the Xiaolin warriors backed across the hallway, the main thing that the both of them were thinking was, _Well, at least it won't be Jack Spicer again!_

* * *

"I give! _I give_!" Jack squealed as he ran around the mountain, pursued by the two behemoth dragons chasing him. They were dogging his heels, sending spurts of flame and light at him that just narrowly missed him. His Robo-Jack had fallen and didn't seem to be able to get back up, and he was completely all alone… 

_Oh please_, said Chase Young in his head. _You are never alone_.

Jack felt his body stiffen and strengthen as some new magic took over him. He was still wearing Chase Young's form, but now he seemed to have gotten a little bit of his powers as well.

"So," said the black dragon. "The cannibal has decided to stop running and fight. Good; I was hoping that this wouldn't be satisfying enough."

Jack nodded, feeling oddly confident and elated. "Just bring it here, tough guy!" He called.

"Gladly." The black dragon replied.

_He's about to shoot a burst of fire at you_. Chase Young said. _Fly up as soon as he springs forward and fire the Orb of Tornami straight down. Do it now!_

Jack bobbed his head up and down. "Okay!" He jumped. He pressed the button on his heli-bot, taking wing just seconds before the black dragon sprang forward. It felt like it was in slow motion as the dragon's scales brushed against the underside of his boots. All Jack could think was, _Whoa_, as an unseen force made him reach into the compartment of his heli-bot and point the Orb of Tornami at the ground.

Then everything went back to normal, and a jet of water shot down upon the black dragon, drenching him. Not only that, the water itself began to move, forming tendrils that ensnared the black dragon completely. The black dragon groaned loudly but could not break free of the oceanic forces.

_You see_? Chase Young said. _That is just the power wielded by the Lunarcanum. Imagine what we could do if I had BOTH? _

Jack tried to imagine it. Controlling the water…and controlling the dirt. His evil imagination was vast, but all he could come up with was creating an army of super-strong mud soldiers. But even as he envisioned them, Chase shook those notions out of his mind.

_Is that all you could come up with? You really don't have much ambition, do you? _Chasethought back at him. _Oh, and jump to the left_.

The evil boy genius stumbled out of the left. A split second later, several earth spikes rose out of the ground where he was standing.

"That's…that's one _heck _of a splinter!" Jack Spicer said as he eyed the spikes warily.

The gray dragon was not done yet. She had a lot of spells at her disposal and the drive to vanquish what she thought was the greatest threat to all dragons.

"I'm trapped on a mountain in the middle of everywhere, with no Jack-bots, a mystical water fountain, and I'm about to be devoured by the Loch Ness monster!" Jack wailed. "I always knew this day would come, but _so soon? _Gah!"

Running equally as fast away from an enemy were Raimundo and Omi. Chase Young's people had flooded the temple, bursting through doors and walls like they were cardboard. They would have liked to believe that they were enacting some grand plan, luring them into a trap or getting them away from the temple and onto the courtyard where the cavalry was waiting. But there wasn't any cavalry, or indeed anyone who was coming to help them.

"Arr, scurvy dogs!" growled a stereotypical pirate as he popped out of a trapdoor in front of them.

The pirate waved a cutlass at Omi, forcing him to block with a temporary shield made out of solidified water.

"Dude, was that an ice shield?" Raimundo asked.

Omi shrugged as the cutlass arced over his head. "What are we going to do now, o wise dragon of the wind?"

Rai glanced around like a trapped rabbit, keenly analyzing every aspect of their situation. As far as he could ken, they were standing at a four-way intersection. Berserkers were behind them. Hoplites and samurais were to the left and right. And ahead were enough pirates to fill Davy Jones's locker from top to bottom.

A light shone in his eye. "Nah…it's too dumb. It'll never work…" He murmured to himself. Then he heard the twang of someone – probably one of the hoplites – playing with a bow. "I guess it's worth a shot!" He turned to his partner. "Omi, follow my lead. It's time for this Shoku warrior to do some Shoku-ing." He cracked his knuckles loudly.

Omi nodded sagely. "Yes. Let us…bring on the hurting."

Raimundo grinned as he hefted Omi into the air over his head. He was lucky he was partnering with the little monk; any extra girth would have completely screwed up his next maneuver. "Go, dude!" Raimundo yelled. With a mighty effort, he hurled Omi forward like a missile, sending the diminutive warrior sailing through the air over the heads of the berserkers.

"HAH!" The berserkers shouted, charging forward as if to attack.

"Ha!" Omi squeaked as he flexed his fingers. "_Scorpion Sting attack!_" He jabbed at their faces and throats, driving them into their trademark rage.

Rai meanwhile was sucking on his finger distractedly as the possessed warriors prepared their onslaught. "Come and get it!" He said, raising a finger into the air. "_Wind_!"

At his command, a burst of wind flooded the temple. It was not nearly enough to do any damage to any of the bemused warriors, but it _was _sufficient to put out each and every lantern in the hall, casting the temple into total darkness.

Even in the dark, the maddening rage of Chase's berserker forces was unabated. Omi rolled out of the group just in time to avoid their insane charge down the hall towards the shocked and immobilized pirates. As they brawled, the hoplites and the samurais jumped into the fray, just for the heck of it.

Twenty seconds later, Raimundo raised his finger again, and an opposite wind blew through the halls. Curtains somewhere up ahead were blown open. A faint shaft of moonlight illuminated some of the unconscious fighters.

"Who kicked butt?" Rai said in a sing-song voice. "_I _kicked butt! Who kicked Chase Young's rear? _I did! I did!_ Woo! Woo! Woo!"

"Ah, well." Omi said, stepping towards a window. He pulled aside the curtains and looked through them. The windows were covered with dust but even with the layer of grime he could still see the warriors that were closing in on the temple. Some of them were humans but still more were felines.

Raimundo came over. "What are you looking a-a-a-at—_HOLY JUMPING TUNA-FISH ZOMBIES, DUDE!_"

Omi agreed with his sentiments. "The Xiaolin temple is under siege!"

"We—we can take them, right?" Raimundo asked. His face was pale and sweaty.

"No." Omi said, shaking his head. "But we must try."

* * *


	7. The Rising

**Chapter Seven: The Rising **

Clay and Kimiko had been dragged away by the worms and hidden in a cave somewhere on the Circle of Fire.

"I think Dojo's on this island!" Kimiko said.

"Yeah." Clay agreed. "But these dag'nab geckos ain't about to just let us go."

Escape from the small cave seemed futile. The worms had taken their Shen Gong Wu and stripped the Silver Manta Ray of all of its technology. Not only that, the only way out was a mammoth slab of stone that no one except for some kind of giant could budge.

Kimiko thought for a few seconds, and then said, "Maybe I can use my computer find Dojo."

The worms had not noticed her technology, and weren't able to sniff out the mega-battery cell inside her miniaturized laptop computer. She turned on the machine, hurrying through the startup sequence so that she could go on the Internet.

"Really, Kimiko," Clay said. "I don't think that there's anything on the Internet about a mystical uncharted island in the middle o' nowhere--,"

Kimiko smiled sweetly as she turned the glowing laptop towards him. "10,000 hits for 'kanojo cho' and 'northern cho-cho'. And it looks like there's even a Google map of his island!"

Clay's jaw dropped. "Well, I'll be darned…"

That map depicted a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean. It was dotted with volcanoes, and had the words, '**Here be dragons' **printed on it near what looked like a miniature version of the Grand Mesa.

"The Mountains of Everywhere," Clay said as he pointed to an enormous craggy mountain that seemed to hover between the island and the surrounding water. Splitting the mountain firmly in the middle was a chasm that seemed to go down so deep that even the cartographers hadn't been able to map it completely.

Kimiko zoomed in on the mountain. A tiny text box popped up, saying, '**Dragoncircle'** and **'Dragon's Dance' **over and over again.

"What does that mean?" asked Kimiko.

"I don't know." Clay replied. "But I think we _really _need to get out of here and get to those mountains."

Kimiko nodded. "Yes. You're right. And I think I have a plan."

* * *

Dojo was already on said mountain, and was looking around in surprised horror as Nessie was chasing Jack Spicer at the edge of the left spire of the mountain. Her magic spells were disrupting the mountain, making it warp and twist in order to accommodate her sorcery. And Jack…well, he was on _fire_. Figuratively, of course, for the time being.

The evil boy genius leapt, ducked, and weaved in ways that Dojo didn't think he could move. Nessie's spells were always one step behind him, but the fact that he wasn't paste by now was still a miracle in and of itself.

"What are you doing?" Dojo demanded as he changed back to his normal shape. "That's not Cha—The Enemy?"

Nessie craned her head towards him, giving Jack a momentary opportunity to cartwheel out of sight into a cave just below the tip of the mountain. "What do you mean? That is the same man from all of the wood cuts and cave paintings that the Elders have shown us for decades!"

Dojo scratched his head. He couldn't see how Nessie had managed to conflate Jack Spicer and Chase Young. "Listen to me!" He called. "Chase Young is the _master of evil_! The guy you're chasing around right now…not so much!"

Nessie seemed even more bewildered than Dojo was. She seemed about to say something to him when she heard the hum of Jack's heli-bot as he rose slowly out of the cave. "I have you now!" She shrieked, and the boy was dragged backward by an invisible force. Before he could do anything in response, she conjured a cage made of rock that trapped him in.

"C'mon, Dojo, we have to go back to the Elders." Nessie said. "The Enemy did some sort of weird magic on Tiamat and we need to get them here to take it off."

Dojo's confusion over Nessie's insistence on treating Jack as if he were Chase disappeared when he heard that. "Oh gosh! We have to do something! To the Geckomobile! Arriba! Arriba! _Away_!"

Nessie watched him go, and then followed him with Jack in tow.

* * *

"Welcome, brave champions!" called the talkative Elder when Dojo and Nessie arrived. The dragons had been assembled once again around the Green Rock. "And I see you bring to us…a pasty-faced human child?"

"I'm not pasty-faced!" Jack complained.

"No!" Nessie retorted. "I bring to you The Enemy who defeated Tiamat but failed to elude me!"

"Oh, come on, guys!" Dojo snapped. "Uncle Tiamat's still on the Mountain of Everywhere! You have to come with me now!"

The Elders turned and fixed their glares on Dojo. "Silence, Kanojo Cho. We focus only on the first matter brought to our attention. It is tradition!" They went back to Nessie. "This does not look like The Enemy at all, Friend from the Loch. What is the meaning of this?"

Nessie glanced back at the cage. _What were they talking about? He looks exactly as…_ It was then that she noticed the nexus of enchantment over her prisoner's chest. _Of course_! She thought. _That brooch he's wearing…it's an illusion that only Tiamat and I could see. _She unraveled the illusion, revealing to her own eyes what everyone else had been seeing all along.

"Mistakes were made…" Jack murmured. "But that's still no reason for you guys to eat me, right? Right? _Right?_"

"Be _SILENT_!" The talkative Elder snapped. "Friend from the Loch, it appears that you have made a mistake. Our window of opportunity is quickly elapsing, and your folly has forced us to go another tack."

The Elder surveyed the amassed dragon clans. "We have only a short time before the Dragoncircle Ceremony will have run out of time! The Enemy is still encroachin

* * *

g, and our only chance is to do what I had hoped that we would never have to do – make war on him directly!"

The dragons discussed amongst themselves in hushed tones. Koryu was dead-set against it. No way was all of her family going to get into a brawl with some cannibal. "There are people who take care of these things!" She said.

"No!" Jahmin Draco. "We _must _take the fight to him now. His forces are too strong to defeat if he gets the surprise advantage!"

The arguing grew more and more intense, and the Elders did nothing except egg them on. Nessie, too ashamed to do anything, had opted to just curl up next to her cage and sleep. Dojo had developed a headache worse than anything he had ever felt. All of the cumulative events of the past two days crashed down upon him. Jack Spicer and his Lily-bots, the Terrarcanum and the Lunarcanum, the Summoning, the attack on Tiamat…_everything _was beginning to take its toll.

But he still could have held it together, kept himself sane with a quip or two, if it weren't for the Shen Gong Wu that had chosen to callously reveal itself just then.

"_GAH!_" He howled, looking around in confusion as his body convulsed in the air. "I think I'm…I think I'm sensing a new Shen Gong Wu!"

"_What?" _Jack called from inside the cage. "Where is it?"

_"_Right here!" A familiar voice cackled. Every dragon on the rock turned to see Chase Young, in full combat gear…standing on the back of Great Uncle Tiamat.


	8. The Clash

**Chapter Eight: The Clash **

"Chase Young!" Dojo gasped.

Chase Young bowed as he kept the Lunarcanum extended at arm's length in front of him. "Nice to meet you again, reptile." He cast his gaze across the amassed clans clustered around the rock. He could make a _year's _worth of Lau-Mang-Long soup out of this delicious horde, but he didn't have time for that now. He was only here for the Terrarcanum.

"Hi, Chase!" Jack called. "How's it hanging?"

"Where is the Terrarcanum?" Chase said evenly, ignoring Jack.

Dojo gave him a taste of his own medicine and ignored that question. "What have you done with my uncle, you…you…_master?_"

Chase arched an eyebrow. "Nothing." Chase said. When he saw the disbelief on Dojo's face. "Nothing that wouldn't have come about eventually, anyway." He tapped the black dragon on the head, and it opened one eye to reveal that it was now bloodshot and latticed with electric-blue veins. "

Dojo scowled. He didn't want to give Chase the Shen Gong Wu. But he couldn't just leave it. His senses were pointing him directly below, and he could guess that it must have somehow been buried there.

"Wasn't that Shen Gong Wu on the shield that the black dragon was carrying?" Jack asked.

"That?" Chase said scornfully. "That was just a wooden disk, as my mental control forced the lizard to reveal. No, the real artifact is around here somewhere."

"Leave this place at once!" The Elder cut in. "Or we shall fight you with our army of millions--,"

"—hundreds--," Jack interrupted.

"_Hundreds_!" The Elder said. The other dragons gave a booming roar that seemed to shake the island itself.

"Find me the Shen Gong Wu at once," Chase Young countered. "Or I shall fight you with my army of water!" He held up his own Wu. "_Lunarcanum_!"

The magic of the Lunarcanum was especially effective on the island which was surrounded on all four sides by water. The dragons screamed and hissed as the ocean around them frothed and churned as if it were being boiled by some gigantic undersea oven.

If that was not bad enough, the dragons' unified terror was compounded as the water began to overrun their island. It started on the southern and western shores, destroying the gardens and grasslands and reducing them to just more water. The dragons, who were feeling fearsome just a few minutes ago, were now all shrinking to their diminutive forms and attempting to escape to their tunnels.

A few didn't make it, however. Chase's water attack rushed forward with even more speed than before, washing back a couple of lizards. The last Dojo saw of them, they were sinking helplessly into the all-consuming wave.

"There it is!" Dojo and Jack yelled at the same time. A small glowing _red_ disc, about half the size of the Lunarcanum, was floating in the water between Chase and Dojo.

They both seized on it at once. Chase leapt from the back of the ensorcelled Tiamat and placed one long, gloved finger on the tip of the disk. He thought that he had claimed it for a split second, only to see that Dojo had one of his claws on the underside of the Shen Gong Wu as well.

"Aw, man!" Jack whined. "I wish _I _was in this climactic battle!"

Chase smirked at that. "Dojo Kanojo Cho, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown for the Terrarcanum!

Dojo gulped. _Oh boy_. _The world is depending on ME! Now I know how the __Chosen__ Ones feel!_ He replied, "I accept your ch-challenge, Chase Young."

"I wager my Lunarcanum against your Manchurian Musca." Chase declared. "The game is…Stairway to the Heavens! First to make it to the top platform…_rules the world_!"

"Let's go then!" Dojo said, and in unison, the two last hopes for the Xiaolin and Heylin sides yelled "_Gong Yi Tanpai_!"

* * *

Clay was plagued by uneasiness. "Are you sure that this is a good idea? I mean, it ain't fun being trapped in this cave, but it's better than ending up lookin' like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day!"

Kimiko gritted her teeth. "It's fine." She said. "I can do big things with my element, you know."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Clay muttered, but he didn't raise any further objections.

Kimiko's concentration – the focus of all her energies – was entirely on the slab of stone blocking the exit. But this time, she was trying to take _away _heat from the entrance. It was a completely new experience for her, trying to use her fire chi to actually create _cold_ energy.

_Deep breaths, Kimiko_. She thought to herself. _You've been doing things like this ever since you came to the temple. Just pull the fire towards you, and you're done. _

She took another breath and began miming the act she was envisioning. Clay shivered and took a few steps away from the entrance as the temperature started dropping. It didn't take more than a minute before icicles began to grow over the slowly freezing rock. The heat energy was forming white-hot gloves of flame around Kimiko's hands, which the dragon of fire didn't seem to be noticing.

"Brr!" Clay shuddered as he regretted not bringing a jacket. "I reckon that's enough, Kimiko. Kimiko?"

She wasn't stopping. Her hands were now completely encased in fire, and the gate slab of the cave as well as several things around it was frozen solid. "Kimiko, you can stop now! C'mon!"

Kimiko thrust one hand forward. A torrent of fire escaped from it, erupting in a titanic inferno that engulfed the frozen ice cube. It started melting, creating gusts of hot steam and chipping off layer after layer of rock.

"I think…" Kimiko panted after it was all over. "We can go through now."

Clay looked at the entrance. The rock and everything around it had completely disintegrated, leaving nothing but some fragments of stone to show that it had all been there. He whistled appreciatively. That was some _real _craftsmanship!

The two monks ran out of the cave. It did not take them too long to notice that something was very, very wrong.

Hovering over the darkened horizon were glowing platforms, hundreds of them, of all different shapes to sizes. They were arranged in a loose pyramid form, with the top platform containing nothing. As they ran, they could see more and more of what was happening, and both of them were able to guess what was going on.

"Someone's just challenged someone else to a Xiaolin Showdown!" Kimiko pointed out.

They made it from the caves to the Green Rock in less than ten minutes. Even though they were out of breath when they arrived, the adrenaline rush had not worn off. They saw the two combatants grow larger and larger until they finally saw who it was.

"Dojo!" Clay cried.

"Versus _Chase Young?_" Kimiko added.

"Hi, guys." Dojo said sheepishly, looking down on them from a platform. Chase Young merely cast them a scornful glance as he stood on his own platform.

"I see we have an audience now." Chase Young remarked airily. "Perhaps I will allow you to die together after I win the Terrarcanum."

"You mean, it's revealed itself already?" Clay demanded.

"Well, _duh_," muttered Jack Spicer from a cage underneath the floating platforms.

"I can do this, guys!" Dojo said. "I have the Manchurian Musca."

"And _I _have the Lunarcanum, one half of the world's most powerful weapon, as well as the unbridled power of Heylin magic and an infusion of strength from the magic of the Dragoncircle." Chase retorted. "_Still _feel confident about your chances, _worm_?"

Dojo gulped. _Don't panic! Don't panic! DON'T PANIC! _

"Let's go!" Chase snapped, and he leapt from the first platform to one of the oval ones on the second tier. Then he jumped over two more and landed on a rectangular space without expending any effort.

The dragon squealed when he saw that happening, and Kimiko and Clay had to cover their eyes.

"I can do this. I can do this." Dojo repeated. He flexed his muscles and sprang, Slinky-style, from his base platform to the closest one. "Woo! I did it! Awesome!"

"Yeah…great, Dojo." Kimiko said. "Just ten million more to go!"

"Hey!" Dojo snapped. "I'm balancing the fate of the world here, which, by the way, is _your _job. I'm at least entitled to some positive reinforcement!"

Chase had just made it to another platform.

"Dojo!" Clay called. "I love you like my own two boots…but if you don't get your butt up in there I'm gonna negatively reinforce you all _over _this place, you hear?"

Dojo groaned. If _Clay _wasn't going to the pillar of positive feelings in the group, then they were _definitely _in trouble.

He stretched out his arm muscles, catching his claws on the next platform. He had just dragged his body onto it when all of a sudden a sigil in the center began flashing.

A game-show announcer's voice began chuckling. "_You, dear Dojo, have just landed on a Xiaolin spring token! Move on up three spaces_!"

To his surprise, the platform zoomed straight _through _the next two layers, causing them to disintegrate as Dojo went up to a higher space.

Chase Young was at the fifth top-most platform right now. The Terrarcanum was just out of reach.

"_Oh, you lucky dog_!" said the announcer voice as Chase jumped to the fourth top-most platform. "_You just landed on the good old Heylin switcharoo!_"

"What?" Chase demanded, but he went unheeded. The platform spun around until he fell off. As he plummeted down to the lowest platforms, Dojo went sent skyrocketing to his own position.

"Way to go!" Kimiko called.

Chase brandished his Shen Gong Wu. "_Lunarcanum_!"

His gestures called up a colossal tidal wave from the other side of the island. Dojo's eyes widened as Chase egged it on, bringing it onto land safely with the magic and ordering it to charge through towards the platforms. It did so quickly, rising up in a killing force of dead fish, soon-to-be-dead fish, ocean plant life, and silt. Dojo tried to run, and indeed after changing to his larger form he managed to get a few feet away before the water crashed around him.

The last thing he heard before he cried out was a distorted, unfamiliar voice calling out his name.

"_Doooojooooooooooo! Doooooooooooooojooooooooooo_!"

* * *


	9. The Dream

_**Author's Note: **Thanks to all my reviewers, and even more thanks to Sugarmakesmeangry, who helped me come up with an idea for this and the remaining chapters of the story. You guys are the best!_

**The Dream**

Dojo wasn't sure how far he had fallen before he came to a sudden and painful stop. All he could tell was that he had apparently hit the ground fairly hard, since even after opening his eyes and blinking he was still surrounded by an endless maze of swirling, inky darkness.

"Really dropped the ball on that one, didn't you, Dojo?" He grumbled to himself as he rubbed his head. He could see lights flickering in the distance, beckoning to him. The dragon felt an irresistible attraction to those lights, almost as strong as his attraction towards meatloaf.

It did not take him very long to get to where the lights were almost blinding him. "Hello?" He called. "Is anyone there?"

_"No_," replied another voice, a clear, sweet one that seemed to echo from all around him.

"Oh, that's very funny!" Dojo said. "Listen, I've got a really bad head injury and there's a maniac about to take over the world, so if I could get some help with getting out of this place then I would really appreciate it."

"_You can't get out of here. Not now."_ The voice said.

"What?" Dojo demanded.

"_This is your brain, Dojo Kanojo Cho._" The voice explained.

Dojo shook his head. "Why is it so empty then?"

"_Again, this is YOUR brain, my child_."

"I get what this is now!" Dojo exclaimed. "It's a hallucination. I bet my friends are trying to wake me up right now! I can hear their voices already…"

But the only thing he could hear was the echo of his own voice and then…total silence, save for the chattering of his own teeth.

"_They can't wake you, because you're not with them any more. You're inside your mind, in another world entirely. The dream world, to be exact."_

Dojo yawned. "Wait, so now I'm _dreaming_ too?" He shook his head again, and this time he assumed an indignant expression. "Look, could you get me out of here…wake me up…do whatever you need to do to get me back in the game! I don't want to have it go down in history that when my family needed me most, I was snoozing at the bottom of an entire ocean and listening to disembodied voices."

The voice did not speak again and Dojo found himself regretting having yelled at it. He began pacing back and forth, mumbling as he tried to think of a way out of this dark, empty prison. There was something very nerve-racking about the place and the sooner he was free the better.

"So, are you just going to give me the silent treatment?" Dojo sulked.

"_…Dark forces encroach upon your world, young dragon." _The voice said. "_And the only way to defeat them and save your world…is to look to the power within."_

"The power within?" Dojo murmured. "Is that it? Master Fung gives me much better sayings and he doesn't make me go through a dream sequences to get at them!"

_"…Power within…look to the power within…and all shall become clear. Do as you are told, young dragon!"_

And before Dojo could respond to that, he felt a sudden freezing sensation and woke up from the dream.


	10. The Awakening

"DOJO! _DOJO_!" screamed the voice above him.

Dojo shook the vapors out of his head and sat up. His vision was blurry, and he could hardly think straight due to the blinding ache that was pounding within his skull.

"_DOJO_!"

"What is it?" He finally snapped back, staring blearily at his surroundings. Kimiko and Clay were standing over him, their faces pale well, in Kimiko's case, pale-_r_ and their expressions frantic. "What's happening?"

Kimiko could only speak in short fragments. "Chase Young. There. Winning! World ending! Do something... _now_!" She pointed at the towering Stairway to Heaven, which was still glowing and extant above them all. Dojo peered up at the Stairway and could see the tiny leaping figure that was Chase Young making his grim way to the top. And once he did, the world would fall before his terrible power.

Dojo didn't say anything. He sprang upwards like a shot, taking flight at a speed that he had never reached before. The Stairway, which once impeded him, could not hold him back any longer. The cheerful announcer's voice boomed around him as he approached Chase Young.

"Ah, my green friend. You have come back to me again." Chase remarked languidly as he leapt to the second-to-last stair. "Ready for another taste of my power?"

"No, thank you!" Dojo grunted. "I've already eaten."

He set his sights on the Terrarcanum, just a few feet away.

The dragon stretched its muscles and accelerated even more. Ten feet... five feet... three feet... he was just upon it now... and...

It was gone.

Dojo blinked as he crashed onto the suddenly empty platform. _Hey, what gives? _He thought, looking around.

"I believe I've won." Chase Young said. Dojo could feel the man's breath on his ear. He turned his neck around just in time to see Chase, with both Shen Gong Wu in his hand, descending towards the torn, waterlogged island floor below.

"_No!" _Dojo screamed. The dragon followed Chase in his swan dive, but even as they fell he knew it was too late. The Stairway to Heaven was already crumbling around them, and soon Chase Young would hold the power of two Arcana in his evil hands.

Dojo landed, seconds after Chase Young. Kimiko and Clay crowded around him. They were both soaking wet, and exhausted besides, but were still more concerned for his health than their own.

"Are you okay?" Kimiko demanded.

"What happened?" Clay asked.

Dojo coughed. "He got it. He won."

"You're... are you serious?" Clay said.

"_Yes, _I'm serious!" Dojo gasped. "And we've got to get out of here before--,"

"Before _what?_" Chase Young said. Clay, Dojo, and Kimiko turned to face him. Chase was wearing the Lunarcanum and the Terrarcanum as a pair of pendants around his neck. The two Shen Gong Wu were pulsing with bright energy, the same kind that was already illuminating Chase Young from head to toe.

With a gesture, Chase fossilized Kimiko and Clay's feet to the ground and bound Dojo with a set of stone manacles. Then, he raised his arms above his head and used the power of the Terrarcanum to send tremors tearing across the landscape. The fissures shook the island apart and lifted it out of the ocean, creating a vast, sprawling barge to carry Chase and his captives away.

"Yeah... uh... this whole 'me-fighting-in-a-showdown' thing really isn't working out too well for Team Good, is it?" Dojo asked.

No one answered him.

* * *

Lightning flashed over the Xiaolin Temple as Chase Young's forces advanced upon the two cornered monks. Raimundo and Omi had managed to hold off the siege as best they could. But as they fought, they could feel their energy ebbing away. Their adrenaline rush was wearing off and now they were struggling to even stand up.

"I think this is the end, buddy." Raimundo said as he and Omi backed away from an advancing horde of wildcats and spear-warriors. "At least we'll get to go down fighting. Custer's last stand and all that."

"Do not speak like that, Raimundo!" Omi admonished. "We are not custard; we are Xiaolin warriors, and we _will _prevail!"

Raimundo nodded. _Whatever you say, little man. _He took another step back and bumped into a stone wall. End of the line. Nothing to do now but fight, and hope to hold on long enough for some miracle to occur.

The lead cat, an enormous hulking tiger, lunged forward, its striped fur rippling in the wind.

"_Wudai Neptune -- Water_!" Omi shouted. He jabbed one finger sharply towards his opponent and stared forlornly at it as a gentle trickle of water spurted from his fingertip, pooling at his feet.

Raimundo was a little faster on the uptake and shoved the tiger backwards, using a burst of wind energy to send it crashing to the floor in the midst of its feline companions. Omi mouthed a word of thanks but Raimundo was no longer listening.

"I--I don't think we're going to win this time." Raimundo said. He sounded as if he could hardly believe it himself. "They've got us outnumbered and outclassed."

"Perhaps you have spoken too soon!" Omi cried.

Raimundo shook his head at Omi's insuperable optimism. It seemed as if no matter what happened, he always saw a glimmer of hope, no matter how impossible or ridiculous it was. "What are you talking about?"

Omi grabbed his head and twisted it roughly towards the advancing wildcat horde.

At least, the _formerly_ advancing wildcat horde. For, as if by some miracle, the cats, including the tiger that Raimundo had just knocked back, were growling petulantly and _retreating_. They kept walking backwards until the monks could only see the whites of their eye, then turned and loped away into the darkness.

Raimundo could hardly believe his eyes.

"I said we shall prevail!" Omi said.

"You _did _say that!" Raimundo replied, his voice a whisper.

"And see what happened? We _did _prevail!" Omi said.

"That we did..." Raimundo said.

The Xiaolin monks' victory was short-lived, however, as the roof began to shake. Raimundo and Omi dodged out of the way of falling ceiling and watched in shock as the roof of the temple was blasted to dust, leaving them to be pounded by the rain and sleet that was falling from the skies.

"Don't be too sure of your victory yet, young dragons!" said Chase Young. Raimundo and Omi looked up to see the Heylin warrior himself crouching atop a chunk of floating earth. Beside him, hovering just above his head, was Kimiko, Clay, Dojo, Jack Spicer, and a large, sleeping black dragon, all trapped inside cages made of rock.

"This day just keeps getting better and better." Chase Young said. He raised his hands, calling up a pair of stone claws that flew forward and grabbed Raimundo and Omi. "Four trapped Xiaolin monks, two dragons to serve me, and the power to conquer the world. Really, what more can I ask for?"

* * *

Meanwhile, deep within the mists of the Dream World, ancient evils far beyond mortal reckoning stirred.

'_The Arcana... its power has been invoked.' _whispered a voice. It echoed throughout the dark world, pulsating with uncanny powre.

'This is our chance to strike.' added another.

'_Through them, we shall be free._' said yet a third.

'_Victory is within our grasps._' said the fourth.

And they slithered forward, blind in the darkness and seeking the two points of light that shimmered far off in another realm.


	11. The Army

**The Army**

Chase Young's conquest over the Xiaolin took less than an hour. His cats had already done most of the work for him. They had looted the vault of its priceless Shen Gong Wu and fought Raimundo and Omi to a standstill. When he had arrived with Kimiko and Clay as well as the dragons Dojo and Tiamat, he had sent a small contingent of his warriors searching through the Xiaolin temple. They found Master Fung and the rest of the monks trapped in the library and taken them to Chase Young, who had sealed most of them in stone and imprisoned them in his dungeon.

Finally, he destroyed the Xiaolin Temple.

He was standing on a ridge when he did it, overlooking the sacred monastery as the shattered remnants of the Ring of Fire island hovered impassively behind him.

"Terrarcanum!" Chase's voice boomed over the sounds of the raging storm.

Tremors shook the weakening Temple to its very foundation, smashing walls and crushing floors.

"Lunarcanum!"

Tongues of scalding hot water erupted from the fissures in the ground, washing away the wreckage of the Temple and eliminating every last remnant of its solemn glory.

"I wish I'd forced the monks to see this." Chase Young said wistfully. "Ah, no matter. When I rule the world there shall be plenty of opportunities to have them witness destruction."

"You are _so _right, Chase Young... sir!" Jack Spicer said. The evil boy genius started striding along beside him as he surveyed his work. Chase had forgotten he was there. "Say, now that you've beaten the monkeys and taken control of the Shen Gong Wu, what next? See, I was thinking 'take-over-the-world' time but maybe you could go taunt the prisoners or A-A-AAACK!"

Jack was cut off when Chase grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him into the air. "I'm done with you, insect." Chase said as Jack's face turned purple. The pale teenager clutched at Chase Young's strong hand, trying to get him to let go. "I don't _need _to keep you around any more."

Jack was starting to pass out when Chase loosened his grip somewhat and said, "Although, you _have _been a useful ally. I confess myself..._surprised... _that you were able to outwit the Xiaolin monks and fetch the Lunarcanum for me. So I will reward you by... "

"Giving me Canada?" Jack gasped.

Chase shot him a threatening glare, and that brief flash of hope was extinguished.

"I was thinking more along the lines of sparing your life." Chase said. He dropped Jack flat on his rear end and turned away. "You are dismissed, Jack Spicer. Go home."

"But--," Jack said, raising a hand in protest.

A blast of fire arced through the air and landed a few inches in front of him. He took the hint and ran off. Only when Chase was out of view did he dare to take flight, his helibot whirring high above the rumbling storm.

Chase heard a feline growl then; his army was returning.

The wall of jungle cats slowly padded across the vast plain where the Xiaolin Temple once stood. They were incredibly powerful, but not enough to conquer an entire world. For his plans, he would need a stronger fighting force. One that was vast, and implacable.

He knew just where to find one.

* * *

Chase Young's dungeons were dark and terribly silent. Raimundo had been forced to watch the warriors carry off Master Fung and the elder monks to be entombed in stone. Dojo and his Great-Uncle were bound and gagged and tossed in a sack in the corner of the room. Raimundo never got to see where Omi, Kimiko, and Clay were taken, but he was sure that it was somewhere worse than anything he could imagine. 

"It's my fault, isn't it?" Raimundo said to himself. In the dungeon, he had little to do but think, and brood. Chains bound his arms to the wall. "I lost to Spicer, I let Dojo run off, Isplit the group up, and let Chase Young _win_!"

In his mind's eye, all he could see was a string of bad decisions. He had believed so much in his own brilliance, in his own leadership ability, that he had let his friends down. And now, he didn't even know where they were.

_Master Fung made a mistake when he made me the team leader and the Shoku warrior... _Raimundo thought. _All I can do is screw up... Ugh_! _What is the matter with me? My friends are in trouble and all I can do is sulk! Come on, Raimundo! You can do this! You've defeated Chase Young before, and you can do it again! Remember what Omi used to say. Remember him, and Dojo... and Clay. And Kimiko..._

Raimundo took a deep, rattling breath. "_Wind_!" He shouted, lashing out towards where he thought the door was with his foot. "Nothing!" It was as if the cell was robbing him of his elemental powers.

_I have to get out of here somehow! _Raimundo thought. _If not for my sake, then for the sake of the world. And my friends.._.

"But how?" He snapped, speaking to no one. "_How_!"

"How... indeed." answered a voice.

Raimundo could not see through the darkness, but he recognized that voice. And it chilled him to his very core.

* * *

The Chasm of Everywhere. Chase Young stood at its very edge, staring into the gloom below. It was the ancestral cemetary of the dragon species, where the great wyrms of old deposited their old bones as they regrew new ones, over and over until the ends of their lives. Hundreds of dragon skeletons lay within that canyon. 

The Heylin warlock extended his arms out of the chasm. Evil powers surged through his body, flowing from the bottom of his feet through his long, pallid fingertips. Heylin magics, forgotten by the world, spread out through the canyon. For a moment, all was still, then...

A long, narrow white skull rocketed out of the chasm and hovered hundreds of miles above the ground. It was joined by a flurry of bones that jostled and jolted each other out of the way before arranging themselves into the body of a giant lizard, at least fifty feet long with an impossibly wide wingspan.

More dragons appeared, of all different sizes and shapes. They rose steadily out of the chasm, unwearied by age and the ravages of time. Only their eyes, wide and hollow, glowed with an eerie spark of life.

The grand army of walking or in this case, flying dead was the last piece of the puzzle, the only thing he needed to wage war on the world.

* * *

Raimundo still couldn't believe his eyes. 

"_Hannibal Bean?_" Raimundo said.

"That's mah name, don't wear it out." The evil bean said as he flew into the dank prison cell. He was riding on the back of his partner, the Ying-Ying Bird. When he saw Raimundo's dumbfounded face, he added, "Well, aren't you gonna ask me what I'm doing here?"

"What--," Raimundo began, but the bean cut him off.

"I'm here to rescue you." Hannibal Bean said.

"Why?" Raimundo demanded.

"Because... I need help." He said. "And so do you. We might as well work together for the time being."

"I'll never help you!" The Dragon of the wind declared.

"Have it your way." Bean said. "But before I leave you here, let me tell you what's happening to your friends."

Raimundo turned away from him.

"Chase Young took them into the caverns below his lair, and sealed them in a prison -- more like a tiny, cramped, _tomb_, really -- made of molten rock. I'd say they've got enough oxygen to last them less than 24 hours. After that, well--," Bean said.

"Enough!" Raimundo snapped.

"You can end it, you know." Bean said. His bird turned around and prepared to take off. "The Terrarcanum can free them from that, and even help you rebuild the Xiaolin Temple that he _destroyed_..."

"I said _enough_!" Raimundo shouted. He took a deep breath. "Alright... I'll help you... I'll help you get to Chase Young. But after that, all bets are off. The two of you are going down."

"Ya made a good decision." Hannibal Roy Bean said. He raised one of his tentacles and sent a bolt of white lightning towards the manacles binding Raimundo to the wall. They glowed red-hot for a brief moment then fell broken to the floor.

The Dragon of the wind rubbed his raw wrists anxiously then looked down at the evil Bean that had released him.

"Come on. We have a ways to go and not enough time to do it!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yeah, I gave Chase Young an army of skeleton dragons. That's the explanation for the Tiamat-bone thing one of you guys brought up a while ago. It might seem weird now, but I really am going somewhere with this. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me after all this. You guys are the best. Don't forget to Read & Review. 


	12. The Gateway

**The Gateway**

The security around Chase's lair was looser than Rai had expected. Apparently, Chase Young didn't think that the monks could get out of their cells. There was only one guard in the cell hallway, a Roman hoplite carrying a spear.

"Hey!" Raimundo said as he and Hannibal stepped out of the cell.

The guard turned around, spotted them, and raised a spear as if to throw it. Before he could draw his arm back, Rai charged forward and slammed into the guard with his shoulder, knocking him into a wall and sending him into swift unconsciousness.

"Let's leave. I ain't plannin' on fightin' every demon hombre in this place." Hannibal said.

"I have to see my friends first." Rai said firmly.

"Fine, have it your way." Hannibal said.

The hoplite had had a map on him, and there was a small prison section marked on the floor just below that one. Without another word, Raimundo and Hannibal Bean descended down a narrow staircase and wound up in a small, closet-like corner of the building.

"Mmm! _Mmm_!"

"There's someone in here." Raimundo whispered. He edged cautiously across the narrow corridor and almost tripped over something solid that was on the ground.

"_Mmm_!"

Raimundo looked down and saw that the object was a cage. It contained Dojo.

"Dojo, are you alright?" Raimundo asked. He grabbed the cage and smashed it against the wall, then pulled Dojo free from the wreckage.

"Wow." Dojo gasped. "That was... "

"_Are you alright?_" Raimundo asked.

"Yeah." Dojo said. His skin was paler now, and his eyes were wide and veined. "It's just... _hey, what is HE doing here?"_

He pointed to Hannibal Bean, who was standing in the background with his arms crossed.

"He's... he's helping us right now." Raimundo explained quickly. "Did you see what happened to the others?"

"The warriors took them and put them in these stone tombs underneath us. They said that they were going to come back as soon as they found a tomb big enough to hold me even after I transformed. And Tiamat, they put him in a cage like that one, and... _oh_, I'll get that Chase Young if it's the last thing I _do_!"

Dojo was breathing heavily now.

"Come on! We're going after him." Rai said. Dojo finally calmed down and jumped onto Raimundo's back.

"Now, we ought to go. Chase's men are gonna return soon." Hannibal said. The Ying-Ying Bird flew off, and Raimundo and Dojo ran off after them.

They had barely gotten back to the staircase when they heard the thunderous footsteps of a horde of evil warriors chasing after. There was no time to look for the others; Raimundo could only hope that he and Dojo would be able to get back the stolen Shen Gong Wu and use them to release them before it was too late.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Messy, ain't he?" Bean remarked as they stepped out of the building and into the open air. Raimundo looked up to where the legume was pointing and saw that Chase had left a huge trail of floating debris in his wake, the remains of the island that he had destroyed to increase his own might. Judging by where the trail of island remnants vanished, Chase was somewhere just beyond the edge of the monastery... or at least, beyond the edge of where the monastery once stood.

"We have to keep going!" Raimundo said. He could hear Chase's forces behind them.

Dojo dropped to the ground and grew to his full size. "Now, it's _your _turn to ride!" He exclaimed.

"There they are!" Three soldiers ran out of the lair, drawing their swords. "After them!"

Dojo and the Ying-Ying Bird flew higher than the soldiers could reach, and by the time all of their reinforcements had arrived, both were nothing more than two tiny specks in the sky.

-----------------------------------------------------

Raimundo and Dojo flew beside Hannibal Bean and his bird in silence for a while. Then, Dojo flew Rai aside to talk to him without Bean hearing.

"Hey, Rai, I think there's something funny about those two Shen Gong Wu." Dojo whispered.

"Ya think?" Raimundo muttered.

"No, no, seriously! Just before the first one activated, I got a Summoning from the Ring of Fire Island. I thought it was a coincidence at first, but when the second activated on the island, I started suspecting that there might be a connection. Maybe they draw their power from the dragons!" Dojo said.

Raimundo thought this over for a moment. "You might be right. When we rescue Master Fung and the others, they can help us figure that out. But until then, we have to concentrate on getting them both away from Chase Young and..." He shot a glance at Bean, who was still flying alongside them. "_Him._"

"Him who?" Dojo asked, puzzled.

"_Hannibal Bean_!" Raimundo grunted. The evil legume didn't react at all.

"Aaaah." Dojo said, nodding sagely. "Eh, we can take him."

_More like, _I _can take him._ Rai thought.

Chase Young had left even more of a mess near the Chasm of Everywhere. In the sky, an inky-black cloud of pollution expanded, infecting the clouds and making the thunderstorm overhead worse. The foliage near the chasm had been completely destroyed, leaving a barren wasteland that seemed to stretch on for miles. But the parts that caught everyone's eye the most were the skeletons that were lying across the landscape, their eyes gleaming and their bones rattling with unnatural life.

Dojo gulped.

"What were you saying about, 'We can take him' again?" Raimundo asked.

Dojo and the Ying-Ying Bird dropped down and crouched behind a wide rock formation. They could see Chase Young standing in front of the skeleton horde, but he could not see them.

"Within an hour, you will be at your full powers." Chase announced. "I will join you with my own host, and together we will conquer every continent on the face of the earth! You will be loyal soldiers, relentless and almighty!"

The skeletons let out a raspy noise that sounded like a grotesque parody of a dragon's roar.

"Poor deluded man." Hannibal said.

"_Shh_!" Dojo and Raimundo hissed.

"He thinks those dragons will be loyal to him." Hannibal continued, his voice getting loud enough to be heard over the gasping of the skeleton creatures. "He doesn't even know that they will serve only their true masters, the great worms of the Dream World."

"_Do-you-want-him-to-hear-us?_" Raimundo said between gritted teeth. Dojo tried to curl his tail around Bean's mouth but he merely leapt aside and continued his loud dialogue.

"Oh, _sure_, they'll go along with him for a l'il while, but as soon as the true masters come back, they'll turn -- _yeah, they will _-- and devour him whole. He won't stand a chance!"

"Who goes there?" Chase demanded.

Before they could flee, Chase raised a hand. Stone chains whipped out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around Raimundo's arms and legs. "Aw, no!" Raimundo cried, but it was to no avail. Chase dragged him through the air and forced him to float beside him.

"You escaped!" Chase said, grinning. "How ever did you do it?"

"None of your business!" Raimundo retorted.

Chase shook his head. "Ah, but it _is_, my friend. My business... and that of my scary friends here!"

Raimundo quickly glimpsed the skeleton dragons and shuddered. Being this close to them was even worse than espying them from afar.

"You want to save your friend, right?" Hannibal said, finally using a sensible whisper.

Dojo nodded.

"If you can get those two Shen Gong Wu away from him, his powers will diminish... and those skeletons will vanish, too." Hannibal explained.

Dojo desperately wanted to make up for his defeat earlier, as well as to take revenge on Chase for all that he had done. But he had _skeletons _now, and if there was one rule that Dojo always lived by it was to always stay away from guys who hung out with the living dead. Nothing good could come of it.

"Oh, alright!" Dojo grumbled. _Gotta take one for the team._ He stretched to his full size -- a feat that was become harder and harder as time went on -- and soared out from behind the rock.

"Back again, I see!" Chase shouted.

"Chase Young!" Dojo boomed, trying to sound as ferocious as his Uncle Tiamat did. "Give up now!"

"No." Chase said. He leapt towards Dojo as if attempting to jump down the dragon's throat. Dojo reared back and inhaled sharply, creating a whirlwind that seemed to suck Chase into it like a vacuum. Chase managed to flip out of the way but the Shen Gong Wu he had strapped to his body came loose and went flying.

"Don't worry!" Dojo yelled. "I got 'em!"

He stretched out his hands... only to grab nothing but air.

"Hannibal Bean!" Raimundo shouted. Bean cackled loudly as he held up the Lunarcanum and the Terrarcanum.

"That's right. The Shen Gong Wu belong to _me _now!" Bean said.

"I should have known that you would be behind this." Chase Young remarked. "Surrender to me now, and perhaps I'll let you leave in one piece."

"You ain't callin' the shots anymore." Bean pointed out.

Dojo was watching the two Heylin warriors face off. Hannibal Bean was holding all of the power now. As soon as he dealt with Chase Young, he would finish off him and Raimundo, and possibly even go after the other monks back at the lair. And, as usual, there was nothing _he _could do about it. After all, he was just the comedy relief dragon...

_Maybe I AM comedy relief, _Dojo thought angrily to himself. _Maybe I can't do anything cool or amazing, but if there's something I CAN do_, _it's to screw up something. And now's my chance. _

He took a deep breath and focused. Years' worth of Texas Tinhorn Salsa Sauce started to well up in his stomach, burning his throat and making his eyes water. This was a wicked case of indigestion, but it was worth it if he could stop the Heylin side.

"Hey... guys!" Dojo said, his eyes bulging as he threw back his head.

"What are you... " Chase began.

"_Bwaaaaaarrgh_!" Dojo roared, sounding less dangerous and more queasy. A jet of fire, orange from all of the hot sauce, spewed from his mouth at the two evil warriors. Chase stumbled backwards, surprised, while Bean held up his two Shen Gong Wu to protect himself.

Dojo continued the flame breath for as long as he could. He ignored the way his throat burned and the way his eyes watered. Finally, all that came out was smoke and fog; he was done.

"Dude, get a breath mint!" Raimundo commented.

"Look!" Dojo pointed at Hannibal Bean, or more specifically, what he was holding.

Two cracks had appeared in the Lunarcanum and the Terrarcanum, stretching from the top to the bottom. Before Dojo's eyes, they began to glow bright yellow, as if some hidden energy within was suddenly being released.

"Aw, you broke it!" Hannibal Bean said. He didn't seem too disappointed. "Thanks."

"You shouldn't be _thanking _me! I broke your stupid secret weapon!" Dojo retorted.

"No, you didn't, you fool!" Chase Young said. For the first time, he looked scared. "Those two Shen Gong Wu are a portal to another world, where evil beings exist. Creatures far more evil and dangerous than even Hannibal and myself! When the Shen Gong Wu is whole, they are forever trapped, but once it has been broken..."

"End of the world." Raimundo whispered.

"Exactly." Bean said. "Once again, I thank you, Dojo. You're a credit to yer species."

"What are we gonna do?" Dojo asked.

"_We _shall do nothing." Chase Young said. "I have what I came for. I will wait till those creatures escape and destroy you all, then vanquish _them _in turn with my new Heylin Army. For now, however, I'm going to leave."

He began steadily rising off of the ground, followed by his horde of skeletons. By the time they were in the sky, they were already accelerating so fast that no one on the ground could see them.

"Coward!" Raimundo shouted.

"We have to do something!" Dojo said.

"You ain't doing nothing." Bean said. The twin portals were shaking now, as they steadily began tearing their way free of the rigid confines of the Shen Gong Wu.

Dojo ignored him. He didn't want to be the hero, but there was no one else who could help him. He closed his eyes and shot forward like a bullet. Bean saw him coming but the vegetable's reflexes were too slow; Dojo slammed into him and arced his neck upwards, allowing him to plunge his head through the portal and enter the mysterious world beyond.


	13. The Salvation

**The Sal****vation  
**

I know this place! Dojo thought as he passed through the portal. This was the same bizarre realm that he had glimpsed just once before, in a dream that he had had during the Xiaolin Showdown against Chase Young. As far as he could tell, this place was made entirely out of impossibly tall mountains and enough mist to choke a dragon. The only light seemed to emanate from the two portals behind him. 

Dojo slunk away from the portals, yelping softly as he fell from a high precipice onto the marshy ground below. The moment he hit the muddy ground, tendrils of foliage, blackened with fire damage, began wrapping themselves around his body.

"Hey, leggo!" He shouted, wriggling free. It was dark and spooky in this strange realm and the last thing he needed was aggressive plant life.

Dojo continued his steady pace throughout the misty realm, not sure where he was going or what he was trying to do. He knew, he remembered that this was an important place; it was there that he had heard that mysterious voice after Chase Young had attempted drown him during the Showdown. If he kept on slithering along, he knew he would find something that would help him save the day.

"It's times like this that I really wish I'd gone into dentistry." Dojo said. He shivering as something oozed past him in the bog. "Dentists make a lot more money, and don't have to crawl around in mud all day!" And finally be able to do something about my wisdom teeth...

He distracted himself with silly thoughts until he was momentarily blinded by a flash of light that seemed to emanate out of nowhere. Dojo raised a clawed hand to shield his eyes, and through his spread fingers was able to see that the light was apparently coming from a lighthouse somewhere just up ahead.

"If that's really a lighthouse, then there must be people!" Dojo said. "Maybe I can stay with them, just for a little while before I keep going."

He hurried across the bog, hoping to reach the lighthouse before something else reached him. He was hungry and tired of crawling around in darkness and the closer he got to where he needed to be the better it would be for everyone.

Finally, he was within sight of the lighthouse. Before him stood the tower, at least two hundred feet tall with a huge beacon in the middle. It flashed alarmingly as he approached, and Dojo began to fear that he had stumbled into yet another trap.

'Come closer... my child...'

_"Mom? Dad?"_ Dojo asked, glancing around wildly. He didn't have any relatives who lived in creepy bogs in the middle of a nightmare realm. Well, except for Uncle Basil, but no one ever talks about him. _"Basil, what are you doing here?"_

_"We are not Basil...'_ The eerie voice said.

"Then... who... ?" Dojo began.

_'We are the beginners of the race of dragons, the King and Queen of Fire and Air!  
_

A Dragon king and queen? Dojo thought to himself. There were only two beings he knew of who called themselves that. They were famous (or perhaps infamous) in dragonlore as the most powerful of the dragons. A long time ago, they had reigned as kings before being cast down by ancient heroes into the underworld.

_'We are TYPHON and ECHIDNA!' _The voice spoke, and in that instant a bolt of lightning streaked across what passed for the sky, illuminating, for one brief instant, the terrifying visages of the ancient dragons. The two beasts were coiled around the tower, inextricably linked in a tight embrace. They stared down at Dojo with flashing purple eyes before throwing back their heads and letting out a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the entire realm.

"Eeeeek!" Dojo shrieked, flinching away.

_'We have summoned you here, our son!'_ Echidna said. '_We require your assistance.'_

"W-w-with what?" Dojo asked.

_'Release us from this Arcana prison, so that we can lay waste to the human world.' _Echidna said.

_Lay waste to the world? But that's where I keep all my stuff! Oh, and my friends live there too. I can't let that happen! _Dojo thought.

_'Why do you hesitate?' _Echidna demanded. _'All you must do is allow us to wear your skin. We will then smash our own portal into the human world to transform it into our own magnificent dragon paradise.'_

"That's, you know, that's really nice and all, but I'm really attached to my skin, so, if you don't mind..." Dojo said. He tried to turn around and leave but found his body firmly rooted in place.

_'You would deny your own true mother and father?' _Echidna boomed. _'Our brood has gone to seed since we have been away, King Typhon!'_

Typhon nodded his enormous black head.

_'If you will refuse your duty, then we shall have to force you!' _Echidna said.

Dojo gulped. What did they mean by 'force him'?

He got his answer a moment later.

Frozen in place, Dojo was helpless as the light from the lighthouse became flickering tendrils of shadow and lashed out at him. They wrapped themselves around his waste and throat, forming a thick cap over his head. As they did so, he could feel a strange feeling wafting off of the tendrils. It was a choking, pungent odor, that reminded Dojo of skeletons and graveyards and gloom. He tried to fight it off but it was overpowering. Already, he was beginning to hallucinate. The lighthouse ahead of him twisted and distorted as he flailed around. The mud seemed simultaneously as hard as a rock and as cold and slippery as raw eggs.

"Lemme GO! Lemme go! _LemmegolemmegoLEMMEGO_!" He shouted, or perhaps only thought. He could no longer tell.

Here we go again, he thought, almost giddy with light-headedness as the strength drained from his body. I try and try but it never seems to work out. I should have left it to the monks. No wonder I'm comedy relief...

_'Your life is ebbing, defiant wyrm.'_ Echidna snarled.

Ha! I suppose it is! Dojo could hardly keep himself from laughing. He was lightheaded and woozy now, and even as he faded he couldn't find the strength to be upset about it. In fact, the only thing he could think of to do now was to close his eyes and fall asleep... it didn't really matter; in a moment, Kimiko or Omi would be by to bang the gong and wake them all up for breakfast...

_Kimiko... Omi... Raimundo... Clay... Master Fung... Uncle Tiamat... all those people..._

Dojo's eyes popped wide open. _Nope, nope, can't do it! Can't let this happen! I have to win, not just for me, but for my friends and my home!_

He howled with a fury and began coughing up small tufts of smoke. The shadows wrapped around him flinched ever so slightly. Encouraged, he kept on going. Puff! Puff! Puff! Echidna's tendrils began to crawl down his body. "Raaaaargh!" Dojo released a gout of flame that immolated his entire body, burning away the shadows.

_'Prodigal serpent! Do not attempt to avert your destiny!' _Echidna shrieked, but Dojo was not listening now.

_This one's for Earth!_ Dojo thought, and released his own fireball that went crashing into the lighthouse.

In an instant, the tower burst into flames and crumbled into ash. Echidna and Typhon swirled up and up into the air, screaming in rage as they vanished in a flash of light.

'This one's for Earth'?" He murmured to himself. "I have got to get better writers."

A blaze was starting to spread from where the lighthouse once stood. Dojo watched it burn several of the creeping plants that had accosted him earlier before realizing that it was coming straight for him.

"Well, I've got to go!" Dojo said. And he turned and flew, soaring straight across the mud with a steely determination that he had never known was in him. The portal still hung ahead, a brilliant hole in empty space. For a moment, he feared it would close up in his face but miraculously, it didn't and he was to fly through and return to the land of living.

"The smell of Earth," Dojo mumbled as he crashed into what felt like soft grass and closed his heavy eyes. "The smell of home. I could sleep forever here."

* * *

"Dojo? Dojo!" 

"What is it?" Dojo murmured.

"Dude, it's me!"

Dojo opened his eyes and saw Raimundo standing above him. "Wa?"

"We were most worried!" Omi said. The little monk stepped into view, followed closely by Kimiko and Clay. "We found you out here on the grass, after the Lunarcanum and the Terrarcanum exploded. We had feared the worst, but thankfully, you are all right!"

Dojo blinked. "The... the Shen Gong Wu exploded?"

"Yeah." Kimiko said. "We saw the whole thing. Raimundo came back to get us, and when we returned, we saw the Shen Gong Wu go off like a rocket. It was crazy!"

"Scariest thing I ever did see." Clay added. "That varmint Hannibal Bean ran off just before, and no one's saw where Spicer or Chase Young got to."

"What about Master Fung?" Dojo asked.

"He and the other Elder Monks are staying at the Temple of Master Monk Guan." Omi said. "Our own Temple was... was destroyed by Chase Young. It will take many seasons before it can be rebuilt."

"We're going over there just now," Kimiko said. "Silver Manta Ray!" She dropped the silvery Shen Gong Wu onto the ground and stepped away as it transformed into a giant ship capable of seating the four of them.

Dojo sighed and tried to move. He slumped over, still completely drained. "Uh... someone's going to have to carry me over."

"Much obliged, pardner." Clay said, scooping him up. You really saved us from a major disaster back there."

"Yeah, I suppose I did!" Dojo said, smiling. "Well, what do you know? The old dragon's still got a few moves. While we're heading, I'll tell you how it all went down with those spooky baddies. It all started when I looked up in the sky and saw Uranus..."

* * *

As the monks sped off towards the temple of Master Guan, Hannibal Roy Bean was settling in his new lair. It was a small cave, carved from a chunk of the Ring of Fire Island. Within it, Heylin magic was strong, and he could work feats that would not have been possible elsewhere. 

The tiny vegetable set a small cauldron filled with water in the middle of the cave and held his tendrils above them. The water frothed and churned underneath his gaze before finally settling into inky blackness. A pair of bright purple eyes appeared amid the gloom.

"Yeah?" Bean murmured.

'Are you ready for us now?' Queen Echidna asked.

"Not quite yet," Bean admitted. "I need more power if I'm going to be able to bring you into this world to do what you do best. At your command, I can bring Chase Young's skeleton army to my side."

Echidna let out a long, rattling breath. 'As you desire...' She said finally, and her eyes vanished from the cauldron's dark waters.

Hannibal Bean rubbed his tendrils together and chuckled with cruel mirth. "Soon, this world and everyone in it will be getting a surprise that they won't soon forget!"

* * *

**The end, right? Well, not really. I've thought a while about this, and I've decided to continue it. But instead of adding more chapters, I wanted to continue this same plotline with a different story. The way I have it set up so far, this story will have a sequel that I hope to start either today or tomorrow at the earliest. But first, I want to thank each and everyone who reviewed this story and all my others, and stuck with this one to the end. I especially have to thank sugarmakesmeangry again for the idea of using Tiamat and Echidna as the villains in the climax. As you might already suspect, they'll be making more appearances in the sequel. See you then!**


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